


Move Your Body

by ViktorBunny



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Anal Fingering, Awkward Flirting, Characters to be added, Dancer, Dancer AU, Flirting, Fluff, M/M, Masturbation, Mila/Georgi, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining, Pole Dancing, Pop star, Relationships to be added - Freeform, Slow Burn, Trashy Romance novel obsession, back up dancer, clumsy Victor, crop tops, kizomba, seduction through dance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-01
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2018-12-22 14:22:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 71,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11969226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ViktorBunny/pseuds/ViktorBunny
Summary: Yuuri is making his living in NYC along side his best friend Phichit. His 9-5 keeps him comfortable but his true passions are lived at night in the dance studio. When an opportunity arises for him to chase his dreams and his idol, all the way to LA, he just can't pass it up.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've been playing with the idea of this AU for a while, and I'm so excited to finally start it! I hope you'll enjoy Yuuri's adventure to chase his passions and dreams... and a certain silver haired idol of his... //winkwinknudgenudge// 
> 
> As other characters and relationships appear I will add to the tags. The rating will eventually hit explicit- so if you're a fan of my other fics don't worry, smut will happen! ;P It's sitting at mature right now because of sex toy mentions. Appropriate tags will be added as I go.
> 
> Fic title from Sia's 'Move Your Body'.

Yuuri hated it when he was stuck late at the office; especially when there was a happy hour gathering he was supposed to be attending. No special occasion, just the typical “This week has been crazy Yuuri, let’s just go out for dinner and drinks!” invite from Phichit. But as usual, the rest of the crew ended up joining them; including their boss Celestino. Not that they minded. They’d been working there long enough in the social media department to have grown past just the boss-employee relationship.

He sighed as he sent out the last round of proofs to Celestino for him to check tomorrow morning. Everything had to be perfect before anything went live. Phichit and Yuuri worked closely with the design department and copy editors to make sure every post to the Wall Street based news outlets social media was golden. It could be no less than that; not with this company. But this wasn’t what Yuuri or Phichit had gone to school for. So staying late because the designer had gotten a new proof to him after 4:30 was just plain obnoxious. 

His phone vibrated across the desk as he clicked his programs closed. Phichit’s photo and name illuminating the screen. Yuuri ignored it, knowing well it was most likely an already drunk “Where are you?” call. The moment he put his computer to sleep, he grabbed the phone, shoved it in his back pocket, and grabbed his pea coat, scarf, and small bag that had been long since packed up. Yuuri weaved his way through the maze of cubicles, pulling his phone back around to double-check the time, waving and saying a quick goodnight to a friendly cleaning lady, then headed for the exit. 

The receptionist was already gone for the weekend by the time he pushed the security button to the side of the heavy glass doors, lights in the lobby dim. His hand was already on the handle as the familiar click signaled he could shove through them and leave. Almost no one stuck around past four on a Friday. 

As the elevator doors opened to the nineteenth floor and he stepped in, his phone vibrated again. Phichit. But when the doors closed he almost immediately lost the signal. Whatever. The Irish pub was a five-minute walk down Broadway, he could wait. Yuuri sighed as he leaned against the wall of the elevator. Finally free for the weekend. 

When he reached the pub, his phone vibrated yet again. Now there really was no reason to pick up. He made his way to their usual spot near the back, politely pushing past the throngs of already drunk business men. Fridays in lower Manhattan were intense. Not that the other days weren’t. No one who worked Wall Street ever needed an excuse to go out and drink after a long day in the office. And after the week he and his team had he was parched to say the least. 

His phone was still vibrating when he reached a hand out to Phichit’s shoulder and purposely slapped it down to give him a start. “Hey! Here’s our hard worker!” Celestino boomed as he looked up from his beer. 

Phichit swung around, almost kicking their coworker Brent off his stool. “Yuuri!” Phichit beamed, eyes bright, smile crooked, tie knot already pulled down and the top few buttons already undone. Celestino and the others seemed to be in a similar state. Just how many had they gotten through since four? It was only five fifteen! “You, are really bad at answering your phone.” he pouted for a second before his smile returned, waving his arm to the empty stool at the head of the bar table. Celestino shot a lightning fast hand out to the glass of wine that sat there, bringing it out of harm's way before Phichit would lay it to waste. “Sit, sit! Oh my god Yuuri,” he started as Yuuri took his coat off and got comfortable. “I have so much to tell you!” 

Yuuri laughed as Celestino handed him the glass. He took a huge drink from it before settling on the stool and leaning into the group, “Phichit I just saw you like an hour ago, how is there so much to tell me? Did the stock market crash just as it closed or something?” he ended with more wine, because he needed it like he needed air. The team had worked on a fairly big campaign for their companies rebranding, and were finally wrapping it up for launch next week. The last few things falling into place come Monday and Tuesday. All that needed to be done after that was make all the pre-planned and scheduled posts and maintain the interactions like always. 

“No, no, like, I have _important_ things to tell you.” Phichit took a sip of his gin and tonic as Celestino chuckled.

“I tried to get him to tell me, but he said it was a special surprise secret that only you could know,” the older man swung his long ponytail of thick hair back over his shoulder as he shoved a menu over at the two of them. “But we should really order some food first,” he turned to the others asking over the loud music and bar chatter for them to pick a bunch of appetizers to share and meals.

Yuuri agreed. He was starving anyway, and he also didn’t want to get too drunk. Whatever news Phichit had could wait until they at least get their orders in. 

Besides, this wasn’t the first time Phichit had ‘special surprise secret’ things to tell Yuuri, that usually turned out to be pretty typical. He knew Phichit too well by now. They’d met back in college in Detroit, when they were assigned as roommates. Phichit the photography major and Yuuri the dance major. He was thankful for the pairing, truly. Because Phichit had turned out to be such an amazing friend. Always there to encourage and cheer him on to help ease his anxieties when Yuuri would enter competitions. 

In return Yuuri always agreed to model for his projects, or when he felt inspiration for a set. Yuuri dancing and casually out and about in New York City seemed to be his two favorite ways to shoot Yuuri recently, when he wasn’t busy on assignments for local agencies doing fashion and runway. 

They balanced each other in a nice way. Yuuri always seemed to be moving because of his multitude of dance classes, competition run-throughs, and working out. Phichit got him to slow down whenever he asked him to model or to have a lazy night in playing video games or watching TV. Yuuri would then get his friend to be a little more active than just working out; talking him into taking pole dancing classes back during the first few months of college. It was mainly because he wanted someone he knew in the classes with him, being embarrassed to try something that was so unlike him all alone. 

The two of them just worked. They knew each other’s ups and downs and how to handle them. When Phichit stumbled upon the social media jobs right before graduation in NYC it made the move a lot easier. Normally, Yuuri would curl up at the thought of trying to dive into a field he knew very little about. Especially one that had them moving so far from where they had gotten used to. But the positions were entry-level; practically for interns. And Phichit was really good at fluffing resumes. They needed work; their majors could only offer so much. Being able to eat and have a roof over their head needed to happen before the really pursued what their hearts wanted.

Fast forward four years since graduation, and here they were. Both had climbed the ladder, so to speak, and had quickly become managers under Celestino. And NYC had turned out to be an amazing place to call home. Both Yuuri and Phichit had originally been studying abroad, so putting down roots here made sense. They found places to eat that reminded them of home, and when their families came to visit there was no lack of things to do. 

Yuuri was overwhelmed by studio choices when they moved here, and he had to hold himself back when it came to signing up for classes to broaden his repertoire. Phichit had a deep pool of agencies and companies to shoot for too. So their majors were not going to waste. Still, they kept the day jobs. After the first promotions, their eyes were filled with dollar signs. Neither of them wanted to leave for that reason alone. Everything had been going so well, in fact, that just a few months ago they moved into a newer, bigger, much closer to work condo. Lower Manhattan and the financial district had already been undergoing a huge transformation over the last few years. And they’d gotten used to the area after working on Wall Street for so long.

They were happy with how things were. Two bachelor best friends living it up in one of the best cities in the world. Day job promotions, hard at work on their passion projects on nights and weekends- Yuuri couldn’t ask for more at the moment. 

Yuuri greedily dug into the company paid for appetizers as he put in an order for a second drink. Feeling thoroughly caught up with the group now, he relaxed, fully shaking off the stress from the last week. He reached across the table with his side plate as Phichit helped shovel some cheese fries onto it. “I guess you’re not going into the studio tomorrow?” he asked Yuuri who already had a decent bunch stuffed into his mouth.

“Nnn,” Yuuri shook his head as he finished chewing and swallowing. “No, I figured I wanted to take it a little easier this weekend. Maybe I’ll just hit the gym and run. Did you wanna join?” he shot back more of the wine, watching a sly grin spread across Phichit’s lips as he politely declined. 

“You remember that model slash dancer I photographed last summer on Fire Island, Chris?” The dreamy look in his friend's eyes was certainly telling that despite it being months since the encounter, Phichit had certainly not stopped thinking about him. 

Yuuri nodded, “How could I forget him, he was all you talked about till the holidays,” he paused as he thought about it. “Come to think of it, you’ve been quiet about him lately, are you still talking with him? Or did things not work?”

Phichit swallowed more of his drink, “Everything is fine, but you know since he lives in Los Angeles we both agreed that keeping things casual is best,” his smile enhanced as something crossed his mind. “For now,” he let out a satisfied, long, and deep sigh. “Anyway, this is not about me. It’s about you.” Yuuri did a double take over the rim of his wine glass. “I talk about you a lot-”

“Phichit, not cool.” Yuuri knew full well the absolute infatuation his friend had with this man. While Yuuri didn’t exactly have a ton of experience, or rather- next to none, when it came to dating, he was positive that talking about your gay best friend-roommate-coworker was not something you should do.

“No, it’s ok. Ummm, how do I say this…” Phichit’s voice trailed off. “He understands your situation.” He filled his mouth with the loaded potato skins that were in front of him.

Yuuri side eyed him, letting an eruption of laughter from their boss and coworkers simmer before he spoke again, “What _situation_ are you talking about? I have a situation?”

“You know,” he said about a mouthful of food. “The _one_!” Phichit swallowed and pretended to swoon. “The dreamy professional dancer you’ve been pining for ever since high school.” he batted his eyelashes in the dim pub lighting, going through a repertoire of dramatic poses as he spoke. “The strong, yet lean, modelesque owner of those baby blues you cannot escape. Your raison d'être for all those long, arduous hours you put in at the studio. And the reason behind those unmarked packages and ‘Oh, yes, Vi-”

“PHICHIT.” Yuuri spat out. The heat of his alcohol blush was deepened as Phichit snickered, resting his hand on his chin. His friend was too clever. But it’s not as if he hadn’t been obvious over the years of idolization and crush on the famous Russian dancer. But to drag his sex toy purchases into it...

“Oh, Yuuri,” he breathed with a huge grin. “It’s ok. You only left that suction cup dildo in the living room once. Teach me to take a long weekend out…” 

Yuuri’s eyes grew wide behind his glasses as he practically drowned himself in the last of his wine. That had been an extremely embarrassing way to wake up to. Hearing Phichit cackling wildly that Sunday morning as he arrived home from a short trip down to Atlantic City for a shoot. That was the last time he braved watching porn in the living room on their big screen TV. His laptop would just have to shoulder the burden forever.

“Anyway, let’s get you a fresh drink!” Phichit derailed the previous conversation as he flagged down their waitress and asked for two glasses of champagne. He turned back to Yuuri who still looked like he’d been dip dyed red and ready to hide under the table. He was just thankful everyone had been occupied with their own conversations to hear anything. “So, as I was saying. I talk about you a lot to Chris because he’s obviously seen the photos I’ve taken of you on my social media. He thinks you’re an amazing dancer Yuuri!”

Yuuri braved a smile, “That’s nice of him, I guess. Tell him I said thank you?” He raised an eyebrow questioningly. 

“I sent him that video I took from your last pole competition and he was really, really impressed. I mean, he pole dances himself, but only casually, he’s not as advanced as you are.” Phichit picked up a mozzarella stick from the further down the table. “And it turns out that the company he dances for is looking for a pole dancer. It’s for an upcoming gig and we both thought of you right away.”

Yuuri kept his eyebrow raised at his friend, “Huh? Aren’t they in LA though? Why would you suggest me for a gig that’s across the country? You know they don’t pay well at those events they need specialty dancers for.” The last pole gig Yuuri did for a new tech companies launch party was awkward and not worth the money at all. He felt incredibly sorry for the girls that were hired alongside him and the other two males, some of the party goers got so drunk they felt above the “no touch rule”. It got so bad that one of the programmers was fired on the spot.

Phichit bit back his lip, glancing towards the bar to see if the drinks were coming yet. “It’s not a normal gig, I promise you. He’s already given an estimate on the payout and a run down of the rehearsals and schedule. It’s involved for sure, you’d be out there for over a week. But it’s a really amazing opportunity, Yuuri,” Phichit’s eyes stilled on his. “You know I would never suggest something like this if I didn’t think so.”

He drummed his fingers on the table nervously. Phichit was right in that respect. At the very least he should look over any information about the gig. “Would I be able to review this information before I decide?”

“Of course!” Phichit nodded. “There’s just one catch.” Yuuri sighed in frustration. Of course there was some kind of catch. The catch with their move to NYC was that the apartment was the size of a refrigerator box. Hopefully, this one wasn’t as bad. “You do have to still go through the casting call process. Chris said he’s bound to this, nothing he can do really but whisper in the ears of those who are in charge that they should really consider you.”

Yuuri tilted his head, “A casting call?” Normally a video of the requested dance style, a résumé, and a headshot were fine.

“Yeah, they really need to see you in person. He said they absolutely could not accept online submissions due to the nature of the gig and how pressing the timeline is at this point.” Phichit paused as he caught the glaring look Yuuri was shooting him. 

“I have a feeling another catch is coming. How pressing is this timeline, Phichit?” Yuuri deadpanned.

“Ah,” he chuckled nervously, trying to escape the stare by looking for their waitress and drinks. “You um, the very last call time for the casting is Sunday at two in the afternoon.”

If Yuuri had been drinking, he would have surely spit it out over the table. “THIS Sunday?” The shrill in his voice caught the attention of their boss, who tuned into their conversation quietly.

Phichit scratched the back of his head and smiled timidly, “You would have plenty of time to get out there if you travel tomorrow, and you’d be home in time for work by Tuesday if you didn’t get it.”

“And what if I do? Phichit, you said it was over a week's worth of work. And I can’t just wait around in LA while they decide I’m not good enough either. Flying back and forth so suddenly would cost a fortune! And on top of all that, we’re launching the rebranding next week!” Yuuri could feel himself start to sweat under his work clothes at the thoughts of that back and forth, the possible red-eye flights, all the last-minute planning and money wasted for only a small chance of him landing the gig. And he didn’t even know what the payout was, let alone the client.

“Listen, listen,” Phichit cooed. “I’ve already spoken to Celestino about the possibility of covering your work load.”

They both looked over at him and he nodded. “Phichit could handle it if you need to be out.”

“But my vacation days, I was saving them-”

“Yuuri!” Phichit cut him off. “I promise you this is not worth over thinking the little things like vacation days. We can go to the Dominican some other time.”

“Ok. Covering me for a day or two is fine. But, what the hell kind of pole gig is this that I would need to be there for over a week? I have to book a hotel. Then what if I get the gig and need to extend the stay but they don’t have anything last-minute?” Yuuri had so many more questions but was interrupted as their waitress approached with two tall glasses of champagne.

Phichit thanked her and slid one of them towards Yuuri. “We can mull over the details tonight when we get home.”

“Besides,” Celestino chimed in. “If after the launch things get crazy, we’ll just have Brent help balance the workload and get an intern to cover him.” He boomed with laughter as their clueless to the conversation co-worker looked over like a deer in headlights. He was waved away by their older man who assured him it was nothing.

Yuuri gave a nervous glance to Phichit, saying all he could with those big brown eyes of his as his nerves took over. He slumped over onto the table, heavy with the weight of all the decisions he would have to make if this turned out to be worth it. 

“Again, I wouldn’t even consider passing this suggestion by you if I didn’t think it was worth it. I spoke to Chris about this nonstop for days before I made the decision to tell you.” Yuuri swallowed hard at that thought. “Though, I do apologize for not mentioning anything sooner. I’m going to blame part of that on Chris as he was being hella secretive about who the client was. I needed to know everything about this and make sure it would be well worth the time and investment for my best friend.”

Yuuri picked himself up and looked over at Phichit, waiting expectantly for the name of the client. If it weren’t for the loud surroundings of a financial district pub on a Friday night in NYC, he would probably be hearing crickets chirping. When his friend remained silent and still, sans a mischievous grin across his face, he spoke up for him, “Well, who is it anyway?”

Phichit inhaled through his nose and when he breathed out, “Mila Babicheva.”

Yuuri froze where he sat, lips dropping open as he tried to process what Phichit just said. “ _The_ Mila Babicheva?” he asked, just to make sure he heard him correctly.

His friend nodded so enthusiastically his head almost popped off his shoulders. “Mmm hmm! None other than world-famous, Queen of Pop, the fabulously gorgeous and talented, and god dammit I want her entire fucking wardrobe, Mila Babicheva!”

“Wow, Yuuri!” Celestino looked over at him in wonder. “Even I know who she is!” Yuuri and Phichit rolled their eyes in unison. Their boss was famous for blasting Italian Opera through the office when he had to work late nights. If he had any other taste in music, they had no idea. 

The champagne glass edged closer to him, “Yuuri, I know it has been a long week, but seriously? Seriously? Seriously. Seriously.” he paused as he waited for Yuuri to say more. “Seriously?” he pushed the glass closer still. “ _Seriously._ ” Phichit’s eyes went wide with shock and worry. He shot a look over to their boss, who just looked confused. 

Yuuri blinked over at him. The two glasses of wine, the exhaustion from work, and the anxiety from the conversation had taken their toll. He watched as Phichit shook his head, rolled his eyes, and very quietly moaned out “Oh, yes, Vi-”

“Victor!” Yuuri almost choked out. “V-Victor Nikiforov, is… holy shit,” Yuuri felt all the color drain from him; and was pretty sure his undershirt as well as button down were instantly soaked through with sweat. 

“Who is…?” Celestino cautiously asked Phichit.

His friend smiled from ear to ear. “Victor Nikiforov is Mila’s right-hand man, her choreographer, and main back up dancer. Been there since the beginning. He’s credited on every video, every tour of hers,” he paused as he continued to watch Yuuri freak out, his chest heaving with the deep breaths he took, clutching the side of the wooden table. “Also Yuuri’s dance idol, among other things…”

Everything in the bar started to sound muffled, buried in thick cotton, wrapped in sound proof foam. The dim lights grew darker and for a moment the appetizers he seemed solely focused on blurred. Was he about to pass out? He thought he felt something as Yuuri tried to steady his breathing that had rapidly picked up. But he couldn’t be bothered to do anything but try to keep himself upright.

Slowly and surely, everything started to return to normal. Somehow he’d just barely pulled himself back from the brink of fainting. Phichit’s hand had an iron-like grip on his upper arm; and as his senses returned more completely, he realized Celestino had an arm across his back. Both men lending considerable support to their friend as he pulled himself closer to the table. 

“Yuuri?” Phichit’s level voice came through at last, his ears still fighting against the last of the ringing in them. “Amazing, I didn’t think you’d nearly pass out from this.”

A glass of water was slid across the table to him, “Water, drink,” Celestino ordered him.

Yuuri gave a stiff nod, grabbed the water, and downed half of it. He could feel beads of sweat trailing down his temples as he finished and took a deep breath. “You okay?” Phichit asked, carefully letting his grip on Yuuri loose.

“I-I’m alright.” Yuuri breathed, finally starting to feel relatively normal. He was just as shocked as they were that he’d reacted this way, with a heaping side dish of embarrassed. “Did I seriously almost pass out just now?”

The two men snorted at him, trying to hide the rest of their laughter behind their drinks. “Good,” Phichit picked up his champagne and held Yuuri’s out to him. “Please tell me you won’t let this opportunity pass you by. I’ll help you book the flight and find a hotel near the studio Chris told me about.” 

Yuuri took the glass, hesitant to do anything else, or answer. This was so much for him to process, and so quickly. “If this is the reaction to getting a chance to finally meet and show off your skills to you idol, I couldn’t bear it if you didn’t try, Yuuri.” Celestino spoke calmly. “You and Phichit have been the best team I could have ever asked for. You’re hard working, reliable, talented... I may have never seen you dance, but I see the light in your eyes when you talk about it. I think you’d have a very good shot at landing this,” he lifted his beer glass near Phichit’s champagne flute. “I’ll pay for your flight, and don’t even try to talk me out of it. I want to do this for you.”

Hearing those words from his boss meant a lot. He considered Celestino a friend at this point, so to have his support helped put his mind at ease a little. “Don’t leave us hanging, Yuuri. This should be a celebration!” Phichit smiled widely.

“Mmm,” Yuuri nodded again and gave a weary smile. “Yes, you’re right.” He clinked glasses with them and they all took a drink. As much as he loved champagne, it was like swallowing a steel ball right now; he winced as he tried to get it down. “It doesn’t mean I’m still not anxious about this though.”

Phichit laughed, “You’re allowed to be! This is big Yuuri; but we know you’re going to kill it. You’re too talented not to.” He pulled the last of the cheese fries to Yuuri, knowing they were always one of his favorite things to order here. “Come on, let’s enjoy the night. We’ll get everything booked up over a glass of wine when we get home.”

All Yuuri could do was nod once more and take another sip of champagne. Phichit was right, he should try to enjoy tonight with his friends. If he took this one step at a time, with his friends help, he could do this. He doubted himself fairly often before competitions. But as long as he focused on each step of his routine and forgot people were watching him, he always nailed it. Hopefully he could do the same with this. Though, forgetting Victor Nikiforov was in the room would be the most difficult thing he’d ever done.

\----

Hours later they were curled up under blankets on their sofa. Yuuri’s laptop was pulled close, wine glasses half full. Finally it was done. Celestino sent them the money for the purchased flight via Paypal. A hotel three blocks away from the studio was booked. And Phichit had sent word to Chris that Yuuri would be there. “Do you still have those headshot cards I made you?” Phichit asked.

“Yeah, I’ve got some left from last season.” They were mostly unnecessary for a lot of the gigs he applied for. However, they made for nicer leave behinds than just a business card or resume. Besides, the photo of him on the front holding the Eros pose was probably his favorite shot of him on the pole that Phichit had ever taken. And they’d spent hours upon hours shooting him dancing. “Good,” Phichit snuggled up to his friend. “Now, what are you going to wear?” He flashed a wicked smile at Yuuri.

Yuuri rolled his eyes, “Same thing I always wear?”

“Ohh,” Phichit whined with a pout, “The boring black shorts and tank? Why not those blue sparkly ones you used a few months back for that competition?”

“It’s a casting call, not a competition. I just want them to focus on my moves,” he explained with another sip of wine.

“Mmm, but hopefully that won’t be the only thing Victor focuses on.” Phichit nudged into him playfully, giving him a cheesy wink as he stared back, seemingly unamused.

But he laughed a little as he shut his laptop, “With any luck, what you just said won’t replay through my mind and make me lose my grip and fly off into a wall.”

“Never,” Phichit reassured him. “You’re too good for that.”

Yuuri shrugged and yawned, the heavy food from earlier and all the drinking making him tired. Though the stress of that evening didn’t help. He thought he was exhausted from the crazy week at work? The last-minute planning and knowing what was about to happen this weekend was ten times worse; in such a short amount of time too. At first he figured he’d be so wired over this that sleep wouldn’t even think about creeping up on him. But he was wrong, thankfully. 

It was a good indicator that his body and mind knew there was nothing else he could do now. He’d get out there and give it his all during the casting call. He had nothing to compare with this upcoming moment of meeting his idol, so he couldn’t say for sure how he would react in person the day of. All he could do was try his best and hope that since he knew it was at least on the horizon, he wouldn’t freak out as badly as he did at dinner.

“Promise me one thing, Phichit?” Yuuri asked, then finished off the last of his wine as his friend nodded. “Any time I call, just please answer?”

Phichit smirked, “I’m not the one who has trouble answering their phone.” Yuuri admitted defeat with a small laugh. He couldn’t argue with that. “But yes, you know I’ll be ready to talk whenever you need it.”

“Thanks,” he smiled over at Phichit. “I’m pretty beat, so I’m gonna pass out. I’ll pack in the morning before I need to leave.” Yuuri shifted his laptop from his lap to their coffee table and pulled the blanket aside to begin standing.

“Sounds like a plan. You sure you don’t want me to come with you to the airport? Last shot of moral support before you leave?” Phichit finished off his own wine and did the same.

“It’s ok, really, but I appreciate it.” Yuuri rubbed at an eye under his glasses as he shuffled towards their kitchen for a glass of water.

The two said their good nights as they made it down the hallway and separated to their bedrooms. Yuuri was tempted to take Phichit up on his offer but he would need all the quiet, meditative time alone he could get. Phichit’s presence was always comforting, even when he didn’t talk, but he needed the space to prepare himself. 

Yuuri wrapped himself in his sheets and duvet, a few last-minute thoughts running through his head before he passed out. He had no idea what lay ahead now, or how short or long this new path was going to be. Good or bad. However it was leading in the vague direction of someone extremely important to him. So he was going to do all he could to make sure this one dance, this one, two to three-minute chance he had counted for something. Living with the regret of not doing this at all would have killed him more than if he didn’t end up with this job. Trying his best was all he could do.

And the chance alone to be in the same room as Victor Nikiforov? Nerve wracking to say the least, but an opportunity he was absolutely not going to pass up. The last few images that danced through his mind as he succumbed to sleep were of him. How could they not be?


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Problems at the studio don't make Yuuri's audition run smoothly. His anxiety runs high, but he's determined to give it his all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, finally! Chapter 2! I'm so sorry it took so long to post this, and I only had one chance to edit so apologies for any mistakes you might find. I really appreciate the sweet comments you all left on chapter 1, I hope you enjoy chapter 2 just as much. Please keep cheering Yuuri on to chase his dreams! 
> 
> [](http://tinypic.com?ref=14ufih0)  
> Huge thanks to [Nana](https://victuuri-vyyv.tumblr.com/) for this amazing mood board!!

"Alright listen up!" The deep, booming voice of the assistant called. He adjusted his earpiece, pausing to most likely listen to an order coming in over it. It was early afternoon now. And Yuuri had already spent hours creeping down the blocks person by person, huddled against storefronts for shade. The assistant's audition protocol speech had become so ingrained at this point that Yuuri naturally tuned him out.

He did so now, scrolling down his twitter feed to see what Phichit and Ciao Ciao were up to in NYC. Phichit seemed to be filling his alone time with photo editing. Ciao Ciao was out with friends for a late lunch. Yuuri scanned past a few other updates from accounts he followed as the man took a step in front of him and called out, "Ten! The rest of you, we apologize to cut things short but we thank you for your time. Go home and enjoy the remainder of your weekend."

"Huh?" Yuuri looked up from his phone, glancing to his left at all the people who were grumbling irritably as they picked up their belongings to leave.

The small man began frantically waving the remaining dancers inside, "Let's go, let's go." He shot a look over to Yuuri as he noticed him still glued to the spot with a confused look on his face, "Number ten, haul some ass inside and stretch!"

Yuuri frantically picked up his gym bag and hurried in behind the girl he'd shared an entire silent morning with. She had seemed just as and if not more nervous than Yuuri. Earbuds in, sipping water cautiously. He would catch soft music playing once in awhile when he put his own on pause. Now they both had their headphones out, filing into an office turned holding pen of the small studio. "Excuse me?" She reached out towards the small assistant. "We're the last group? Why are they cutting auditions short? I have a friend who was further back, they're curious."

He shrugged, "Hell if I know. Apparently, the AC cut out in the main studio and they're just not happy with what they've seen today. Good luck though." He ran off to the girl who had been at the front of their group, joining another assistant as they had her hurry into the hallway that led to the main studio.

Yuuri swallowed hard at that blip of information. There had been well over one hundred people lined up by the time he got there early that morning. The casting companies name was like a Siren's call to every pole dancer within a seventy-five-mile radius. The thought of him not even getting into audition passed through his mind often enough that he'd talked his nerves down at that point. He would have cut his losses. He'd tried. But now? He was inside, the last person to at least make the audition cut. So now his nerves and anxiety were sprinting to make up for lost time.

He stuttered in place as he watched the other dancers strip down to their pole gear, grabbing headshots, liquid chalk, queuing up music, stretching, and it wouldn't be LA without that last minute makeup check. Yuuri wondered if he should have put any on, or did something with his hair. Too late to panic about that, but he still was.

"Who was number two! Follow me!" A new assistant shouted into the holding room.

 _"Already?!"_ Panic racing through his body. It was like they'd barely spent any time on the first girl. Were they turning them away that quickly, or just lining up the follow dancer to move things along quicker?

Yuuri had to force himself to move as he watched her disappear through the door because they were already calling the third dancer to get ready. He dropped his bag to the floor and began kicking his sneakers off. He'd just gotten his jeans and t-shirt tucked into his bag when the first girl came back in, leaving the third to get pulled down the hall. "How was it? They're moving our group so fast, this can't be good!" Another girl asked her.

"It's a fucking hot box in there. They're obviously not happy about that," she frowned. "I barely got halfway through my routine before they thanked me."

"Jesus, you'd think a big company like this would pick a studio with their shit together." The only other guy in their group tutted.

The group fell silent and a few moments later the second girl was coming back and another was being led from the room. Again, Yuuri had to force himself to tune out any of their conversation to stretch and mentally prepare himself. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't terrified right now. The fact that the people auditioning the dancers were already in a bad mood did not bode well.

Things slowed down a little with the third girl. Maybe the first two were just that bad? He tried not to think about it as each person exited the room, came back to gather belongings and left. A longer than usual thirty minutes ticked by before he was finally called.

Yuuri's insides immediately took flight. His heart threatened to break through his rib cage. He could feel his pulse points throbbing. The grip he had on his phone, headshot card, and liquid chalk was close to crushing everything because he couldn't feel his hands. And that only drove him into more panic. He _needed_ to feel his hands, they were a crucial part of pole dancing!

Yuuri tried his best to fight the nervous butterflies in his gut as he was led down the hall. Gross, pale yellow paint that probably looked neon right now compared to his flushed complexion. Judging the color choice was the only way he seemed to pull his focus away from just how clammy he was getting. 

This was no time for him to have a panic attack. He had to swallow the lump in his throat as he was turned down a corner, another assistant holding a hand out to him, "Music, headshot. Get your chalk ready." She told him bluntly.

He fumbled to unlock his phone and get his song queued up. Practically slicing the girl's fingers off while handing over his card. And he almost dropped his liquid chalk when he tried to open it.  
The girl rolled her eyes, popping her gum impatiently.

About ten feet ahead of them was another door that Yuuri could just barely hear music through. The fact that his ears were ringing from his entire system going into overdrive did not help either. And as he heard the music fade out the need to pee hit his bladder so hard he thought he was about to wet his dance shorts.

He quickly chided himself. Trying to snap back into a proper headspace. He was better than this. He always nailed his performances. He could do this. Just forget about what job this is for. Forget about who will most likely be in that room behind the casting table…

"Oh God," Yuuri thought he whispered. But it apparently came out more like a shocked gasp because the girl holding his belongings side eyed him, snapping her gum again.

"Is this your first audition?" She asked with more annoyance in her tone than concern.

"N-no." Yuuri mumbled, eyes fixed on the door that was opening. Another assistant was leading the last girl towards and past them.

"Well then, what are you so nervous about? Just get out there and do what you need to do." She told him. A man at the door waved them over and in turn, the girl waved Yuuri to follow her.

He had to practice his breathing. For all he knew Victor wasn't part of the casting. For all he knew the technical problems of the day might have caused him to bow out early. He was Russian after all. They wouldn't like LA heat much would they? But what if he was there, and he was miserable? Yuuri was the last audition of the day. If Victor was in fact there, he might be so tired and shot from hours of work he just won't care anymore.

Yuuri screamed at himself mentally as they neared the door. He needed to stop this. Or everything would be for naught. Yuuri steeled himself as he was ushered through, the girl leading the way into the orange colored pole studio. His eyes caught yet another assistant wiping down two poles, taking a quick mental note of which one was static and which wasn't.

Then his eyes scanned back towards the direction he was walking in. His mouth went dry the moment he noticed him.

Victor Nikiforov.

This beautiful, blue-eyed, silver-haired man. His attention was drawn to the two men sitting to his right and the papers they were flipping through.

So he was here. Yuuri could barely feel his own being as the girl led him closer. Limbs numb at the sight of his idol meer feet from him.

Yuuri bumped into the girl as she stopped, handing the phone to yet another assistant who docked it, making sure it was clicked into place and ready.

"Last audition," she started, handing the card across the folding table to none other than Victor, whose nose was still buried in papers on a clipboard. "Uh, Yuuri? Katsuki Yuuri." Her rough pronunciation made Yuuri wince.

Victor then swung his eyes up to Yuuri, freezing him in place. It was impossible to miss how tired and defeated Victor looked. There were small purple bags under his slightly bloodshot eyes, lips were drawn tightly together with a small downward pull. Yuuri could see a small bead of sweat making its way down his temple, and parts of his fringe and hair were damp. It was the last way Yuuri had ever imagined him looking upon their first meeting. He always daydreamed of that strong, confident, heart-shaped smile greeting him. Those clear, piercing eyes taking him in. No matter the fantastic scenario he put them in, he always looked beyond perfect.

Yuuri couldn't help it when his eyebrows knitted together behind his glasses, lips parting in an attempt to introduce himself. Victor still looked gorgeous to him, even if he wasn't picture perfect at this moment. And it was releasing a whole new set of butterflies in his stomach. That strong cut jawline, those high perfectly chiseled cheekbones, his broad muscular shoulders and, oh god, those sculpted arms and hands. Seeing him in person made every feature stand out better than any stage or photoshoot lighting had ever hoped to.

"Yuuri," Victor drawled as he took the card from the girl. She stepped away, and Yuuri felt completely exposed without her presence in front of him. Unsure what to do as Victor's exhausted eyes scanned both sides of his headshot card quickly before darting back to him.

"Y-yes." he forced the reply. Tongue, and voice cracking in the process. "Seven years experience, studio work, recent clientele and awards listed on the back for reference." It was a typical introduction during an audition of this speed, but hearing it now, it sounded foreign and boring to him. No flare, no reason to cause Victor to want to glance at it a second time.

Victor nodded courteously, eyes never wavering from Yuuri's as he placed the card on the table. He watched as the corners of his mouth twitched upward a little. Still not the same smile he was hoping for, but it was a start. "Thank you. Take your pole- I errr, pick a position," Victor flinched at his flubs, swallowing hard as he rubbed at his eyes. "Take your _starting position_ , at the pole, I mean. We'll begin when you're ready."

Yuri frowned a little. Those eyes were off of him now, and the small grimace that crossed Victor's face made up for the lack of air conditioning. Goosebumps sprouting all over him. Victor must have been passed the point of exhaustion. And here Yuuri was, probably about to waste his time.

The man next to Victor nudged his elbow, speaking in what Yuuri guessed was French. It pulled Victor's head out of his hand at least. The grimace was still present but now there was the faintest hint of a blush across his pale cheeks. Victor remained quiet as the same man called out to another near a camera mounted on a tripod. "Ok, fire it up." He paused, then nodded at Yuuri. "Go!" He whispered excitedly.

That's when Yuuri realized who he was. It was Phichit's friend Chris. He didn't recognize him at first because all he's really seen of him were a few photos Phichit took. But there was no mistaking those green eyes of his as he fluttered his lashes in Yuuri's direction.

Yuuri quickly moved into position for his current audition routine, which started him a few feet back from the pole to prepare for a more energetic power spin. He forced himself to look ahead at the poles, steeling his nerves. He was here now, he had to try his best.

The cameraman called the time and Chris spoke again. "Katsuki, Yuuri. Number…" he glanced down at the papers in front of him, running a quick finger across the top page. "Three hundred and twenty-six."

Three hundred and twenty-six. Was that how many people they had gone through already? What kind of pole dancer where they trying to find that would have them saying no to such a staggering amount of auditions?

The man who'd taken his phone called out a warning before he hit play. And Yuuri's thoughts were torn between focusing on his routine and the pit that had formed in his stomach. It wasn't so much due to his anxiety and nerves now, but over the concern, he had for a man he didn't even know. No wonder Victor looked the way he did today. Yuuri could only guess at the amount of stress he'd been under trying to find the right dancer.

That stress was the reason why he looked so unhappy and worn out. The last thing Yuuri wanted to do was add to that. To see that sad, drained expression on his way out.

The music started and he took those few quick dance steps forward to launch his body around the pole, legs following and swinging up as if it required no effort at all. He swore he would do everything he could to pull even the smallest smile out of Victor. All it would take was just a little more of a curl of his lips, and even if he didn't get this job Yuuri would be satisfied.

Yuuri had specifically choreographed his audition routine to show off the level of difficulty he was at. It made good use of both static and spin poles and showed that he was more than capable of even the most advanced moves without sacrificing technique. Normally he would just send the video that Phichit had helped him to record. It had been maybe two weeks since his last full run through of it. It was important to always work on, update and rehearse it as he never knew when an in-person casting call like this would happen. And unfortunately, he was feeling it.

He struggled through an electric leg switch. Something he could do in his sleep these days. His grip slipped and it took him longer to finish it, causing him to become slightly off from his music. Timing was so important to him, he had to power through at this point. He made a quick swap to a less difficult move next to make up for lost time. Which also gave him some more breathing room when he made his transition between poles to showcase some dance moves. He always tried to keep the dancing parts unique. This powerful but fun music lent itself to hip-hop, but his twist was adding the grace of his ballet classes in there.

Yuuri lost himself to the performance he was putting on. Knowing full well the only thing propelling him through this was Victor. He hoped against all hope that something he did would be enough to help lighten his mood.

By the time he finished with the same Eros pose that was on his card and had gracefully flipped himself down from the pole as the music ended his chest was heaving. Maybe he shouldn't have had all those carbs the other night. But he made it. There had only been a few things he had mentally chided himself over beside the loss of grip. Maybe his legs weren't as straight as they should have been, or transitions into inverts weren't as quick as usual. But he did it, with minimal problems.

Yuuri swallowed hard as he finally let his eyes fall on Victor, feeling that dry mouth overcome him once more. Everyone was silent and still. Victor especially. The only one who said anything at first was the cameraman calling his wrap, so to speak. Yuuri stood there, trying to read the expression on Victor's face. Eyes brows knitted together, eyes glassy, lips barely parted in an ‘o' shape. Was he worried? Shocked? Maybe he was so tired from the heat in the studio and the long hours already put in that this was simply his "I'm fucking done" face.

There was no smile present. No hint that he enjoyed Yuuri's performance in even the slightest. At least none that Yuuri could see. His heart sunk. Even with the perspiration covering him from the lack of air in the studio, he felt chilled to the bone. Yuuri's chest tightened and he barely registered that Chris had begun speaking to him.

"...Yuuri." Chris sing-songed to get his attention. He blinked slowly, looking over at Chris in defeat. At least he was smiling. Beaming even. "Great job Yuuri, thank you. We need to review everything and send videos in to finish the selection process. But we'll be in touch if you make it."

Yuuri nodded shyly. The emotions from earlier, good and bad, had him riding so high on adrenalin that the drop in his mood right now was inevitable. He knew this roller coaster all too well from when he knew he bombed a performance. The pit in his stomach only grew heavier as he was handed his items and led away by the same girl.

He got back to the holding room in silence, eyes downcast as he pulled on his clothes and shoved his liquid chalk into a side pocket of his bag. Things were too still, too quiet. A familiar sting built up behind his eyes as he tore himself from the studio in a hurry, trying to not make a spectacle of himself by crying in front of the various crew members.

All he wanted to do was see Victor smile. And he couldn't even do that. What would lead him to believe he'd get this job.

\----

By the time he'd gotten back to his hotel he'd calmed down considerably. Somehow he'd fought back the tears that had threatened to overtake him. So at least he didn't look like a mess walking down the crowded streets of LA. It helped to consider again how unbelievably drained mentally and physically Victor must have been. He recalled Phichit telling him that they'd started casting nearly three weeks ago.

If the number Chris had called out was indeed a sequential number for the people auditioning then that would be a little over one hundred auditions each weekend. Around fifty people per day. While pole performances didn't last long there was a multitude of other things they were probably juggling during those days as well. Especially now that they had approached a moment where it was crucial to find someone as soon as possible. They had to spend hours reviewing videos, passing any they liked along to those who mattered along with notes. Depending on what kind of gig this was they probably had other work going on as well.

So he was at a loss now. The only thing he could do was write it off as bad timing on his part. Maybe if he had gotten there earlier that morning, and been further up in line. What if he had left for the airport Friday night and made the Saturday call time? He might have been able to calm down physically, but emotionally he was still putting himself through the paces. Self-doubt mainly. He was, of course, his own worst critic. And he would be on his own case with loads of "what if's" for days now, if not weeks.

He resigned himself to the fact that at least he tried. It could have been much worse. He could have acted out some of his worst fears and Victor could have laughed him out of the studio. It didn't happen, but it also didn't stop his brain from thinking about it.

Gig be damned at this point. All he had wanted out of that audition was to make him smile.

Yuuri sighed and let his head drop into his hands. The thoughts just kept repeating themselves over and over. He was so broken up over everything that he couldn't even drag himself out of his hotel room for dinner. Yuuri had gotten back, showered, and tried and failed an attempt at napping. So he spent hours just staring mindlessly at the TV until he got hungry and ordered room service.

Cheeseburgers and fries always helped him feel better. It wasn't his all-time favorite; home cooked katsudon. But it was comforting enough. He even splurged and ordered a cheap bottle of wine. He needed _something_ to help ease the pain in his heart. And wine reminded him of good times with Phichit at least.

"Shit, I should call him." Yuuri thought aloud as he took a huge gulp of his drink. He'd started to feel better after getting some real food in his stomach. And now halfway down the bottle of wine, he figured it was time to call on his friend for moral support.

He propped himself up on the mountain of pillows near the bedside table and put the TV on mute. He was happy that the hotel Phichit found was on the nice side. He'd been wary about spending so much money per night, but after the long flight yesterday, and now his defeat in the casting call, he was at least happy to come back to a plush, higher-end hotel room.

Yuuri made sure his wine was in hand as he waited for his friend to pick up. It wasn't terribly late back home, so it didn't take long till Phichit's cheerful smile graced his phone screen, "Yuuri!" he exclaimed. "I was getting ready to call you myself!"

"Hey Phichit," Yuuri tugged a small smile out. "How's it been?"

"Goooood!" The way he sang the word reminded him of Chris sing-songing his name. Were they getting that close that he was picking up on a little mannerism like this? The thought made Yuuri smile a little more. It was nice to think about his best friend being happy, even if he insisted the relationship was casual. "Took you long enough to call. Chris beat you to it."

Speak of the devil. "Chris called you?" Yuuri raised an eyebrow. He figured they'd be too busy trying to pick someone tonight to make any personal calls. Then his heart dropped. If Chris had time to call a friend earlier, maybe the decision had been made already. He hadn't heard anything, he probably didn't get the job.

"Yeah," Phichit replied. "But more importantly, are you going to tell me about the audition? Was Victor actually there? Did you swoon? How do you think you did? Never mind, I know you killed it."

Yuuri sighed, "He was there," his line of sight dropped to the pillow he had his phone propped up on. The stinging threat of tears returning as every memory replayed. He pulled himself back from that edge, blinking back the swell of emotion. "Phichit, he looked so tired, so worn out and upset. I don't know why. I mean, I can imagine some reasons. The air broke halfway through auditions apparently, the studio was a sauna. I'm actually shocked my grip slipped only once. But he just looked so defeated…" his voice trailed off. Phichit remained quiet, seeing the look of thought on his friends face. "Still though, oh my god, Phichit." Yuuri bit back his lip. Suddenly the overwhelming feeling of ‘finally' just burst through him. "He was so beautiful in person. So damn beautiful. I thought if I could make him smile somehow everything would be worth it. Even if I don't get the gig…" Again, his voice got lost.

Phichit made a sharp noise and Yuuri caught him waving a dismissive hand to the phone. "What makes you think you won't get it? Cause you slipped a little?"

Yuuri furrowed his brow at his friend, taking a sip of wine. "I couldn't even get him to smile. He just stared at me with this almost blank expression. I don't know, did he look confused now that I think about it?"

"Confused? Why would he look- listen Yuuri." Phichit cut himself off. "It's Hollywood. They have to be stone-faced during auditions. And saying you won't get a gig just because you couldn't make him smile?" Phichit leaned close to the phone, lips the only thing in view. "Is. Dumb." he pulled back. "You've said and thought some pretty dumb things about your abilities, but this is the dumbest. I'm saying that out of love. Fuck him if he didn't smile. You make me smile when you dance. You make everyone else smile when you dance. You made Chris smile!" Phichit beamed.

"How do you…?" Yuuri started, but the slack in his voice was taken over as Phichit continued.

"He was smiling then too when he told me about your audition." he leaned back on their sofa shaking his head back and forth. "Man do you two have opposite takes on how you did today."

Yuuri looked around in disbelief as if trying to find the other dancer who'd snuck into his room. The one Phichit must have been talking about. "What do you mean opposite takes? I didn't do that well overall. Some technique was sloppy."

Phichit twisted his mouth to the side. "You always do this. I wish I could help you see how amazing you are Yuuri. But I know I'm not the person to do that. All I can do is support you and keep trying to remind you. You're so talented. Chris thought you were brilliant. He said that you have this grace about you, even during the harder moves. And he was insanely impressed by the stamina you had. He couldn't get over some of the things you'd saved for the end. He was absolutely gushing, Yuuri. And the only thing I've ever heard him gush about was the import Swiss chocolates he found in Orange County. And do you _even know_ how seriously this man takes his Swiss chocolate?" Yuuri blinked and shook his head at what he assumed was a rhetorical question. "He's from Switzerland. He takes it _very_ seriously."

"Well…" Yuuri started. "Ok then. My dancing is on par with a Swiss man's love for chocolate. That's a compliment right?"

"YES!" Phichit blurted. "You are likened to smooth, rich, refined chocolate Yuuri. It is a huge compliment." He gave a soft smile, eyebrows raised with slight concern for his friends' apparent thick-headedness. "Listen, I'm only going to pass along what he said I could, he knows I'm going to talk to you. But please, have more of that wine. Relax tonight. Stop worrying yourself over things you had no control over, like how tired Victor was. You killed that audition."

Yuuri slowly nodded, taking another sip of wine as Phichit spoke. "Obviously they are spending the night going over videos and notes. Then they need to pass all final videos by Mila and her manager. Victor, Chris and some guy named Georgi are really the ones who are making the call, but Mila needs to see the dancers for herself. And her manager apparently will not sign off on a new dancer unless he does the same and discusses it with the four of them. It's tight because they need to make a decision by tomorrow evening."

Phichit slowed, and took a pause as he smiled. "Chris has your video in the final count, Yuuri. It's you and maybe ten others he said."

Yuuri stared at his phone in silence, brain suddenly void of any thoughts. Or maybe it was too many at once? Nothing seemed to overpower the mental white noise that hummed through him, yet he knew there were probably hundreds of questions and exclamations firing off at once.

By the time his senses cleared enough, and the ringing in his ears stopped he mumbled to a patiently waiting Phichit, "Ten others?"

"Mmm hmm," Phichit nodded. He looked relieved that at least Yuuri had been laying in bed for the news this time. No need to worry about him falling off stools. "And all I'm going to say on that is that it was unanimous. There was no need to do any convincing." His smile was loaded with so much more information and he waggled his eyebrows tellingly.

"Unanimous? You mean…?"

His friend nodded enthusiastically on the small screen. "How should I say this," he tapped a finger to his lips as he stared up towards the ceiling in thought. "They were all thoroughly impressed by your talents." He held back a chuckle.

Yuuri took a deep breath, holding it as he tried to process everything. Thankfully the long pause in their conversation wasn't anything new. Phichit sat there smiling at him as he watched Yuri's expression lighten considerably since their call began. He exhaled finally, pulling his wine up to his lips once more.

"I've got all the faith in the world that you're going to land the gig Yuuri." Phichit finally spoke.

Yuuri almost choked on his drink, "Phichit, please. If they narrowed down hundreds of people to eleven the others must be out of this world."

"And you're not?" his friend deadpanned. "Why else would you be included in that group then?"

"Well-"

Phichit kissed his teeth and fervently shook his head, "Nuh-uh, we are not going through this again." The smile he carried betrayed the more serious tone in his voice. "Katsuki Yuuri, stop questioning your ability to slay and just count the bodies please." Phichit made a prayer-like motion before jokingly mumbling, "Here lies these blessed souls, cut down by this man's sharp and sexy hip movements."

Yuuri rolled his eyes at the farfetched statement, unable to hold back a tiny chuckle. As dumb as it was it helped ease his mood some more. He always appreciated that about Phichit. If he was unable to help get through Yuuri's tangled mind he at least tried his best to distract him in an easy-going manner.

He smiled at Phichit, swirling his wine in the hotel's long stem glass. "Thank you for talking with me."

Phichit's eyes went soft, "Of course." he smiled just as warmly. "Call me tomorrow, no matter what happens. I'll keep my phone close at work."

"I will," Yuuri nodded. "Say hi to Ciao Ciao for me."

They said their goodnights and Yuuri dropped his phone to the mattress before practically chugging the remaining wine in his glass. It was still early in the evening here, but at home, he'd probably have been curled up in bed at least watching Netflix before he passed out. Today's events had also taken a lot out of him. The heat of LA; even when it wasn't summer, the anxiety, stress and giving it all he had in his audition were finally catching up. It didn't help that he had a belly full of heavy food and wine.

Yuuri quickly jumped from the bed, going through his usual pre-bed bathroom routine. Then made sure his phone was plugged in to charge. He curled up under the covers, unmuting the TV as he settled in the middle of the king size bed letting himself sink into the pillows. He was booked for at least one more night. So even if he didn't get the gig he told himself he'd take this time to relax. If he got really stir crazy tomorrow he'd remote check in at work.

But first, he'd abuse the morning the sleep in, maybe get a workout in at the hotel gym. He was pretty sure they had a pool too, based on the information on the site, and most likely a hot tub. He hadn't been swimming in ages and wanted to take advantage of it. Luckily he'd packed a swimsuit just in case of downtime.

These would all be amazing distractions at the very least. Right now he was at ease. Dare he even think it, a little excited? The corners of his mouth curled, heart fluttering at the thought of Victor watching his video. Was he watching it now? The vote on Yuuri had been unanimous. No need for any convincing. That meant Victor liked his audition. Enough to put him into the final count.

He covered his face with the duvet at that thought. Embarrassed by how hard he was smiling, even if he was alone. Yuuri whined as he pulled it away, removing his glasses and reaching out to place them on the bedside table before flicking the light off. It was going to be difficult to fall asleep tonight, no matter how beat he felt.

Because Yuuri had at least done what he promised to do back in NYC. Audition. And while Victor might not have been in the best of spirits at the time, Yuuri was thankful he got to be in the same room as him. That he was able to dance for him. Maybe if things didn't work out Chris would be able to get him a commemorative photo? He'd have to remember to ask Phichit tomorrow.

Eventually, Yuuri had the mind to turn the TV off before slipping off to sleep. Dreaming of all the way he wished he could put a smile on Victor's face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yuuurriiii! I hope your dreams were super sweet. It was a stressful day, but you did your best!
> 
> Thank you for reading everyone! Any comments, kudos, subscriptions and shares on social media are always super appreciated!!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri kills some time the morning after his audition before getting a phone call from a certain someone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear I didn't mean for this chapter to take so long. I am also participating in the Big Bang on Ice event, so a lot of my free time to write has gone to that. To hopefully make up for it, I have an aesthetic board for this chapter!
> 
> I will do my best to get chapter 4 out much quicker. Till then, please enjoy!
> 
>  

Of course, on a day Yuuri wanted to sleep in he naturally woke up at 6 am. Of course, on a day he probably had all the time in the world to kill he couldn’t fall back to sleep. It was odd though. Because as much as he wished for more rest he felt wired. He chalked it up to a mix of nerves and excitement over everything lately.

He rubbed any lingering sleep from his eyes and resolved to get out of bed and start his morning routine, followed by the complimentary breakfast the hotel provided and the gym. Might as well put this early start and extra energy to use. It proved to be the right move. Because his work out went so well he immediately decided to change and do some laps in the pool. Thankfully it was still so early that any other guests had no use for it yet.

The early morning sun shining on the rooftop pool felt nice in the cool water. And it was peaceful this high up. The throng of LA traffic just a gentle hum below him. After spending some time doing laps with various strokes Yuuri found himself floating around and thinking. Moments like this were made for that kind of thing.

Yuuri knew he’d done all that he could do. If he thought about his audition from the point of view of a judge during competition; technically he still did a good job. Was it excellent? Maybe not. If this had been a competition, which in so many ways it really was, he might have grabbed second place.

He took a deep breath, letting the water roll off his chest as it expanded. Second wasn’t bad. He shut his eyes tight at that thought, letting himself sink under the surface.

No. Second wasn’t what he wanted in this competition.

Yuuri balled his fists as he righted himself under water and got his footing. Only first would do. Only getting this job would do. He broke the water's surface and flipped his hair back, running a hand over his face to clear it. There were no medals to show his efforts for second place here.

Second place meant having to go home to his office job. Back to teaching in the studio. It meant probably never seeing Victor again. At least not in person. Could he really live with that? Just having a fleeting moment of being able to show off his talents to his idol.

The chances of him getting another audition like this were one in a million. Hell. The chance he got yesterday was already a once in a lifetime opportunity in his eyes.

He swam to the built-in steps and climbed out, grabbing his towel from a nearby lounge chair to dry off. Unfortunately, at this point, there was nothing he could do. There were no do-overs. Not when they apparently needed to make a decision by this afternoon.

Yuuri sat when he was dry enough and checked the time on his cell. Only 8:23am. Well, that would at least explain the excessive honking he was starting to hear from the streets below.

Now that he wasn’t splashing around in the water, he was noticing LA come alive. And naturally, his thoughts drifted back to Victor, wondering if he was already up and continuing to review videos and cards. Or maybe he had been up all night doing that and was just crashing for a power nap. Yuuri sighed when Victor’s exhausted beyond all belief face flashed in his mind again. He really hoped he was getting some kind of rest.

With nothing left to keep himself busy with Yuuri decided to head back down to his hotel room and shower. Maybe he would remote login and do some work after. With nothing left but to sit and wait he needed to stay busy and distracted, otherwise he would spiral again. And the last thing he wanted to deal with was even a mild anxiety attack.

After the cool water of the pool, a steamy shower really did the trick to relax him. He even considered filling the tub up and just laying back in it for an hour. The hotel did provide bubble bath. Oh, how terribly tempted he was to crack that open. But the energy he’d built up from everything was still lingering. As relaxed as he was he couldn’t sit still. And when he got out of the shower and dried himself off he immediately went through some stretches in the buff.

Kind of freeing if he were being honest. Neat.

He’d just finished some hamstring stretches when his phone vibrated on the nightstand. It had barely begun its dance and he swore he felt his heart stop. There was a surge of adrenaline making record time on his system and he suddenly felt like he’d just run a marathon. His mind panicked at the thought of who it could be while his body’s reaction was to dive over the corner of the bed and grab the phone up.

A local Los Angeles number that wasn’t in his contacts.

Yuuri’s eyes widened and he dropped his phone to the floor, hands already slicking with a nervous sweat. He rushed to pick it up. How rude would it be for the caller to hit his voicemail, especially if it was someone calling about the audition? Without letting himself overthink it anymore he raced to pick up, “H-hello?”

“Hi, Mr. Katsuki?” It was a man's voice on the other end. Was it Chris? That Georgi guy? Yuuri’s heartbeat was racing in his ears as he tried to place it but also carry the conversation without being rude.

“Yuuri is fine. B-but yes, this is he.” He cursed himself to try to cut out the nervous stuttering.

“Yuuri,” the other voice seemed to let the syllables roll off their tongue.

 _”Oh… shit…”_ That voice! Yuuri’s heart was now beating so fast he wasn’t sure if it had stopped or was going to break a rib. He dropped his bare ass to the bed before his knees gave out on him. He was positive it was Victor. The hours he spent watching his dance lesson videos on Youtube or repeating any videos he posted on social media. There was no mistaking it. And it hit him so hard he could hear the ringing in his ears. Yuuri had to force himself to calm down if he wanted to get through this phone call hearing and remembering _any_ of it.

“Sorry to call you so early, Yuuri. This is Victor Nikiforov calling about the pole dancing audition,” Victor continued. His even and serene tone was in stark contrast to how Yuuri was feeling at the moment. “We usually like to have a quick follow up with those who’ve auditioned and have met our expectations. The process was a bit rushed due to the upcoming schedule so I wanted to call as soon as possible.” All Yuuri could manage was a stiff nod on his end and a small noise of agreement into his phone. “I hope that’s alright, Yuuri?”

“Mmm.” He wished Victor would stop saying his name. Because he had to force his mouth to move if he wanted to carry his part of the conversation like a professional. “Of course, I understand.” Yuuri scrunched his nose as his voice cracked a little on the second word. The embarrassment of it sucked all the moisture from his mouth.

“Good, good.” There was a small hint of amusement in the words. “Well, Yuuri.” There it was again. And Yuuri swore that despite his current embarrassment of not only sitting in the buff during this phone call and how he couldn’t manage to speak straight, his name was somehow music to his own ears. “We all thought you did a fantastic job yesterday, amazing really. We think you’d be perfect for this job. If you don’t mind, I’d like to meet up for lunch, take you over the contract and NDA, discuss payment-”

The ringing in Yuuri’s ears was back with a vengeance. He’d never felt such a rush of blood like this to his head before. It was so powerful that his vision went black. Victor’s voice grew distant. He barely had any time to process what he’d just heard. With one hand pulling at the duvet his eyes snapped shut. Yuuri shook his head, screaming at himself to pull it together. Fainting now would probably not be the right way to accept this job.

Accept the job. Was Victor telling him he got the job?

The moment he could speak again he did, hoping against all hope that he didn’t sound like the mess he felt like. “Sorry, can you repeat that last part?”

There was a very soft chortle on the other end of the line, “Ah, yes. I’d like to meet for lunch to discuss hiring you. I do hope you'll accept. I believe you’d be a perfect fit.”

The way he enunciated the last two words had Yuuri shivering. Or was that just the AC? He must have been imagining the purr due to the ringing gradually fading out in his ears. Though Victor always had this enticing way of talking in his videos. Maybe Hollywood did that to people, or maybe that was part of the charm that got him so far in his business?

Before he could dwell on that thought for more than a second he found himself blurting, “Yes! I-I mean,” he cleared his throat to buy time to calm his excitement. Way to sound like an amateur, Yuuri! “I have no problem meeting up to discuss and go over contracts. Just let me know when and where and I can meet you.”

“Fantastic,” Victor breathed out. “I’d like to meet you in an hour at Republique. It’s a place on South La Brea. Would you have trouble getting there? I know you’ve come from out of town for the audition. I can send a car to get you at your hotel.”

The nicety caught Yuuri a little off guard, “Oh no, don’t trouble yourself. I can grab an Uber or Lyft.” Besides, the thought of Victor knowing where he was staying was a little too much for him to handle at the moment. The job offer alone almost made him black out.

Victor hummed gently, “As long as you’re alright with that, screenshot the charge and we can reimburse you. I will text you the name and address when I get off the phone.”

Yuuri nodded, “Please and thank you.”

They both paused for a moment. Yuuri was hesitant to say anything in the direction of ending the call, because wow did Victor sound nice over the phone. But in an hour he’d have it in person. There was a sudden sound of barking in the background and Victor cooed a few gentle words in Russian before finally speaking again, “Sorry about that. I’ll get the paperwork together and see you in an hour then?”

“Yes, perfect.” Yuuri found himself smiling as the dog in the background barked again. It must be his dog, Makkachin, who took up just as many photos on Victor’s Instagram feed as the famous dancer did. “I’ll see you in an hour.”

“Great. I’m looking forward to meeting you, Yuuri.”

Goodbyes were exchanged and the moment the call disconnected Yuuri found his face buried in a pillow as he broke out into something between hysteric laughter and fanboy levels of screaming.

He had to get it out now while he could.

\----

Yuuri wasn’t sure what to think when the car pulled up alongside the unassuming row of businesses. He’d taken a few minutes after getting dressed in the only pair of jeans he’d brought with him and one of his more casual looking black compression v-neck t-shirts. The jeans would have been forced upon him by Phichit if he hadn’t already thought to pack them. Low rise, the kind of tight fit that he had to jump into to get them over his well-muscled thighs and butt, finished with a fashionably faded dark rinse. Yuuri wasn’t stupid. He knew his ass looked good in these jeans.

He had flipped through photos of the supposedly popular restaurant as he slipped his favorite pair of leather high top Diesel sneakers on. And had taken a quick glance at the menu as he decided to leave his hair casual and fluffy.

He’d fought ‘date’ nerves the entire trip. Tried to remind himself this was all business. But the fan in him wouldn’t quit. There was a blizzard of emotions running through him by the time he thanked the driver and stepped out. So he wasn’t sure what he should be thinking right now.

At least the nerves he felt while walking through the threshold were different from yesterdays. Replaced by the excitement of getting time with his idol. Phichit’s words had been on repeat in his head since waiting for his ride at the hotel.

_“He’s just a normal man. He eats, sleeps and shits like the rest of us Yuuri. Take him down a notch, picture him farting and scratching his balls or something.”_

It was what his friend reminded Yuuri of every time he’d get too excited over the release of one of Mila’s new music videos or one of Victor’s high powered choreography videos, or every time he updated his Instagram or Twitter. So needless to say it happened often.

As the image of the colorful depiction he’d always get played out vividly, Yuuri found himself smirking while approaching the hostess. If he just kept that all too human picture there to remind him, he could get through this lunch. “Hello,” he greeted the younger girl. “Um, I’m supposed to be meeting someone here. I’m not sure if he’s here yet.”

“Certainly!” She chirped at him before glancing down at a list on the stand. “We did have someone arrive a few minutes ago who’s waiting. Last name please?”

“Mine?” Yuuri wasn’t sure how this worked. He was used to barging into lunch spots to meet up with friends and coworkers. His nerves were on edge, “Katsuki. Or do you need his, Nikiforov?”

The girl beamed at him a bright, professional, LA grin, “Perfect, Mr. Katsuki I’ll have someone bring you right up.”

Up? Yuuri nodded politely as the girl turned to ask a fellow waiter to lead him into the restaurant. He was aware of the spacious interior after you got through the first half of the building. It had an impressive interior that reminded him a bit of what little streets in Europe might look like. They had brought the outside in, so to speak. Complete with storefront windows that showed off a wine room and another showing off the kitchen.

He followed the waiter past those and the long wooden tables filled with patrons set under street-styled lamps that hung from the interior stone veneer. They made their way under the Gothic arches towards the back and turned up a small staircase.

The man stopped before a doorway and opened an arm to allow Yuuri inside before him. There was no time to let himself overthink the moment. He stepped through into the soft sunlight that was pouring in from the windows overlooking the dining room.

Sitting against the wall, at the edge of one of the other beams of light was Victor. Image of him as a typical human, gone. Yuuri felt his brain short circuit. Victor smiled up at Yuuri as the waiter followed him in. “Yuuri, hello!” The man jumped to his feet to greet Yuuri. And again, that way he said his name like music. He was lucky there was a chair in front of him to grab onto as he stretched out his other hand to meet Victor’s. “Thank you so much for coming on such short notice.”

Yuuri’s breath practically choked him as he felt the firm, warm hand of Victor Nikiforov encompass his. They were just larger than Yuuri’s and had him growing weak in the knees as he realized how soft they were. He bit back the multitude of reactions trying to fight their way onto his face to remain professional. “Thank you, Mr. Nikiforov, for hiring me.”

Ouch. That sounded awkward. Victor wouldn’t stop smiling though as they released hands and he motioned for Yuuri to sit. “Victor, please.” The two of them took their seats, Yuuri settling into the column of light just as the waiter poured him some ice water.

“I’ll give you some time to look over the menus. Can I get you anything to drink before ordering? Cocktails, tea, coffee?” At least the waiter was giving him time to breathe by taking control of the conversation.

Victor looked up from readjusting the napkin over his lap, “I’ll have a lemon-basil spritz, for now, thank you.”

“Excellent, and for you?”

Yuuri politely declined a cocktail, opting for a matcha green tea latte. Alcohol probably wasn’t what he should be having at the moment. This was par for the course for someone like Victor. Considering the number of celebrities Victor rubbed elbows with on a daily occurrence. But for Yuuri, he was most certainly a fish out of water. He needed everything about him to be focused on this moment.

In this particular moment, finally, sans the waiter, Yuuri was finding himself a little too focused on the person sitting across from him. His eyes dragged over Victor’s hands and the fancy gunmetal watch adorning one wrist. They followed the length of his pale, toned forearms, hitting the gently rolled up sleeves of his crisp white dress shirt which sat casually open at the collar. By one button too many, too. If Victor were a girl Yuuri would be getting quite the eyeful of cleavage.

He had to tear his eyes away from the smooth curve of a shadow that crawled up from his pectoral muscle to his collarbone. But it was as if everything he laid his eyes on was unsafe. Long, graceful neck; too perfect. That slightly innocent looking curl of his lips; dangerous. Those eyes that smiled just so at Yuuri that caused him to swallow hard; hypnotizing.

Victor still looked a bit more than exhausted around his edges. He was smiling now though. That alone was a heartwarming improvement to see. Nothing seemed to dull his chiseled, handsome features. And while the purpling below his eyes hadn’t faded from yesterday, they seemed clearer, brighter, more concentrated. Wow, that shade of blue...

He needed to look into those eyes at some point. But for now, he blinked away just as fast as he had made contact with them.

“Yuuri,” Victor smiled over at him. “Have you been enjoying LA?”

“Ah, to be honest, I haven’t seen much past the hotel and audition yet.” A bashful smile appeared while he spoke. Small talk, he could handle small talk.

“That’s a shame,” Victor leaned in closer to reach for his water glass. “There’s a lot to see in LA.” He took a drink and for so many reasons Yuuri couldn’t find himself bringing his eyes any higher than the bobbing Adam's apple. Victor set the glass down and continued, “I know we’ll be busy with practices and filming, but I hope you get out to enjoy some of it.”

Oh, work. The entire reason he was here right now. “Speaking of, what is the typical schedule like? I mean, when do you need me to start? For how long?”

There was a light chuckle from Victor that was surprising enough to pull Yuuri’s eyes back up. “We’ll get to that. Right now let’s get something to eat and relax.” Yuuri nodded and made a noise of agreement, but questioned his ability to relax. “Besides, if you’re going to work with me, I need to get to know you.”

Victor’s lips curled as he smiled over at Yuuri who suddenly felt pinned in place. “Of course, that makes sense.”

“I need my dancers to be comfortable, not only with me but with each other.” Again, Yuuri agreed with the statement. While a lot of his work was solo, so-to-speak, these days he was no stranger to dancing with a partner or troupe. Victor hummed, “Good!” He sat back in his chair, taking a deep breath as he made no attempt to hide his elevator gaze.

Yuuri swallowed hard again, praying that if he was sweating or blushing under that stare it wasn’t obvious. “So, Yuuri, what’s your favorite food?”

The far too casual and out of left field question caught him for a loop. Yuuri blinked and did a double take as Victor picked up his menu and started looking it over. “I, uhh,” What was his favorite food again? “Katsudon.”

“Oh? What’s that?” Victor’s eyes flashed up from the menu as he waited for the description. “I don’t believe I’ve ever tried it.”

Yuuri raised his eyebrows as he rubbed the back of his neck, “Umm, fried pork cutlet over rice, with egg. It’s a bit carb heavy, I know.” He added sheepishly.

“Mmm, it sounds delicious though.” He went back to browsing the menu. “I’m partial to savory blintz, almost any kind.”

“Like, crepes? I’ve had sweet ones before, never savory.” Yuuri could handle a conversation about food. Ok, this was going alright. Even with his heart still fluttering behind his rib cage.

Victor looked up and smiled at him, it was warm and genuine. “Sounds like we need to do dinner together.”

 _”HELP!”_ Is exactly what Yuuri wished he could scream right now. Luckily his manners knew better and he nodded quietly with another shy smile.

Also lucky for him, the waiter was coming back with their drinks. He’d had absolutely zero time to look over the menu yet, too nervous to move much. So they were left for a few more minutes to look things over. Victor took a long sip of his drink, eyes ever present on Yuuri as he read his food choices silently. “You live in New York City right?”

Yuuri nodded politely as he tried to concentrate on the menu, eyes darting up now and again as he spoke. “Yes, I live in New York. I teach pole three nights a week, my day job is with social media marketing for a Wall Street publication though. So I try to take classes in other studios on the weekends.”

Victor’s eyes grew wide at the mention of his day job, “Social media, that must be fun!”

Yuuri held back a sigh, he got that reaction a lot. He shook his head, “Not really. I didn’t even go to school for it, I was lucky getting the job. But I’m a quick learner.”

“That’s still amazing. But I guess you would much rather dance for a living?” Victor couldn’t be more on point.

“Yeah, but New York is expensive. There aren’t too many opportunities to earn a living off of teaching classes. Not a comfortable one anyway.” His eyes fell on a menu item that had him salivating. Done.

Before he could put the menu down Victor asked another question. “Do you live with anyone to ease that burden?” He trailed off for a fraction of a second before adding, “ A roommate, family, significant other?”

 _”Mayday! Mayday! Abort!”_ Yuuri almost ducked behind the menu in embarrassment at that last part. “I uh, um… r-roommate. Roommate,” he let out a very small nervous laugh before trying to save himself. He cleared his throat. “W-we went to college together, longtime friends.” He bit his tongue. If he allowed himself to, during this wave of nerves, he’d start blurting his entire history.

Again, that soft smile graced Victor’s face, “That’s nice. It’s just me and Makkachin at home.” Yuuri looked over at him as he paused. Victor’s eyes were downcast, face glowing with a cool light as Yuuri realized he was doing something on his phone. “He’s a standard Poodle. Pretty much the love of my life.” Victor proudly showed off some photos of the dog, like a father might show off photos of their child.

He actually went through a few with Yuuri, especially after Yuuri cooed and expressed a love for poodles. It was kind of adorable to see Victor get mushy in person over his dog. He was even popping open photos Yuuri had blatantly seen on Instagram. As if Yuuri hadn’t already oo-ed and aw-ed at all of them.

The conversation about Makkachin had immediately eased Yuuri. Mentally and physically. He hadn’t noticed how rigid he’d been sitting that entire time. It was amazing what dogs could do, even when they weren’t present. They settled back and Yuuri started sipping on his latte just as their water came back and took their orders.

With that out of the way, the almost never-ending questions from Victor continued. What style of dance Yuuri did. What age he started. Favorite things to do on rest days. If he’d been anywhere other than Japan and America. What TV shows he was currently into. If he had any pets.

It was interesting, for sure, especially when Victor almost always answered the question as well, except the obvious one about pets. He wasn’t expecting things to go this way. He figured it would be all business. At least more in the sense of going over the schedule and contracts. Though he guessed it still was. Like Victor had said earlier, he needed to know about his dancers, and make sure they could be comfortable and focused on work once they all got into the studio. And well, he had to admit this was helping him become more comfortable.

By the time their food came Yuuri wasn’t finding it too difficult to make casual eye contact with his idol. And he even found it somewhat easy to get through his brunch styled meal. He just had to remember “small bites” to avoid getting caught with a mouthful when Victor asked anything.

Eventually, their conversation had to switch gears and as the waiter cleared their plates and empty glasses Victor reached beside him for a sleek leather clutch, pulling out a manila envelope and all the necessary paperwork.

Victor went over all the details. The contract only lasted a mere seven days. Three days in their local studio for Yuuri to prepare a routine alongside the crew and rehearse. Two days of onset run-throughs, one of which would be a full dress rehearsal with the entire crew, the other would allow him time to finalize anything as they would be filming a lot of Mila’s solo shots that day on a different stage. And finally two extremely full days of filming. “There is a chance that one of those days you won’t be needed, all depending on how filming goes for the scenes we need you in. But it’s a buffer.”

Yuuri sat quietly taking everything in as Victor broke down the non-disclosure. He was allowed to have his phone in all practices and on set for emergency calls only. When it came to photos and videos from behind the scenes, they were actually fairly lenient. Nothing that showed anything to do with the actual video production could be posted until the release date. Though he was barred from taking photos and video of any of the onset mixing panels. He guessed that made sense.

“They’re insanely packed days and nights. The video is very involved but Mila only had a finite amount of time for filming. So we’re making it work. Be prepared to live on caffeine and fruit.” Victor winked playfully. “We’ll have catering with everything you could imagine available, as we’ll be living in a studio and on set for the next week. If there is anything at all you might need during the day just let myself, Chris, Georgi, or Sara, Mila’s assistant know. Chris and Georgi are my go-to dancers who’ve been with me since the beginning. So trust them and listen to them if they ever bark out directions while I’m offset.”

“Oh, they were at the auditions with you, right?” Yuuri asked. He remembered Chris clearly. Thanks to Phichit. And he was pretty sure he remembered Georgi’s face. Sadly he was a bit of a blurred afterthought in the rush of things.

“Yes. And oh, that reminds me. Chris does have some background in pole. So he’ll be there to help with choreography.” Victor smiled thoughtfully as he spun a pen on the table under his fingertips. “But we’re hiring you for a reason, Yuuri. We trust you that if you need to tear anything he suggests apart and build from the ground up that it will be spectacular.”

Quite a bit of heat rushed towards Yuuri’s cheeks at that statement. He hoped that he could live up to their expectations. “I’m sure I won’t need to discard and start all over. I’ll gladly go over what he has with him.”

Victor nodded, “Excellent!” He thumbed through some of the paperwork and pulled a list out of the back. He hummed as he glanced down it a few times, flipping to a second sheet and then back again. “Just a few personal questions for you,” Victor clicked the pen open and jotted a note next to the list. “Are there any food allergies the caterers should be made aware of?”

Yuuri shook his head, “No.”

“Any pre-existing health conditions?”

“Umm,” Yuuri chewed the inside of his lip. He wanted to say ‘none’, but was a little too aware of how his anxiety could sometimes affect him. While he had always worked himself through it enough to finish anything important like a job, he didn’t want to risk them being upset with causing any delays on set. He especially didn’t want to have an anxiety attack just thrown at Victor as a surprise either.

“Don’t worry, I assume if-”

“It’s ok, umm,” he breathed and readied himself. “My anxiety might be a good thing to know about. But it won’t get in the way of any tight scheduling. I can manage it.” Again he hoped that he could manage it if the moment should arise.

Victor nodded with understanding, locking eyes with Yuuri. “I would never ask you to do anything you weren’t comfortable with.” There was no shred of doubt about that. He looked so squarely at him, his tone firm but gentle enough. “And If you ever feel otherwise come to me, tell me.” Yuuri nodded, trying to keep a sudden wave of heat from making its way across his face. “It’s my job to make sure my dancers are relaxed and can perform to the fullest.”

“Of course.” Yuuri averted his eyes, unable to help the blush he felt coming on, it was heavy, he knew it was going to show.

“Hey,” Victor smiled over at him and placed a hand on the table to where he knew Yuuri could at least see it. “It’s a job yes, but, I also want to see my dancers have fun.” He braved his moment of shyness to lift his gaze to Victor’s. “We’re going to be worked to the brink of death, but I promise, it’ll be fun.”

Yuuri couldn’t stop the nervous chuckle that bubbled up, “Brink of death, but fun?”

Victor shrugged as he took his hand back with a sly smile and a bubble of laughter, “The adrenaline kicks in at a certain point, you won’t feel the pain then, the rest is cake.”

“Cake. Gotcha.” Yuuri curled a corner of his lips. If anything this was certainly going to be an experience he would never forget. He’d just have to keep reminding himself that when he hit the point of over exhaustion.

“Delicious cake, I’m sure,” Victor mumbled loud enough to just be heard over the ambiance of the restaurant, picking up and rifling through the papers.

Yuuri raised a curious eyebrow, watching Victor scramble to pick the pen back up and jot another note down. There was a soft vibrating sound from the right of Yuuri, his phone screen lighting up with a text from Phichit. He allowed another glance at it as a second and third came in. Victor was humming to himself again as he pulled some sheets free and set them aside. “Last question, for now, any allergies to latex or lubricants?”

Yuuri’s eyes shot open towards Victor and he flattened himself against the back of the chair. “Uuuh,” his voice cracked. That heavy blush that might have been starting to fade was back with a vengeance now. How was he able to ask something like that so calmly?

“For wardrobe. I don’t believe anything for you has been finalized yet because of measurements, but some looks will be in latex.” He was serious. Of course, he would be. Why ask something like that otherwise?

“N-no.” Yuuri squeaked out, much to his chagrin. Saved by another text notification. Yuuri reached out and flipped his phone over to try to seem polite.

“Great!” Victor made one last note before stuffing some papers back into the envelope and turning his attention to the others.

Last but certainly not least was payment. They were going to simply cut him a check at the end of the week. Which made things a lot easier. What wasn’t easy to handle was the number of zeroes at the end of this amount. He blinked, wondering if he was reading it correctly as he skimmed over the page in his hands. It was almost as much as his salary. “And of course we’d like to cover arrangements for your stay in town. You can either hand over receipts for your hotel at the end or I can arrange to set up a call with Sara and we can put our card on your room.”

This was suddenly too much for Yuuri to process. Yes, it was probably going to be the most intense job of his life. But was it worth this much?

The pause Yuuri took probably said it all because Victor was asking him if everything was alright when he put the paper down without signing it. “May I just step out for a quick moment?”

“Yeah, of course.” Victor didn’t have to worry about him running unless he thought Yuuri was incredibly stupid. But the warning about his anxiety had probably been enough of a heads up that he needed a hot second to process everything.

Yuuri grabbed his phone and pushed himself up from the table, a pair of eyes burning into his backside as he stepped out of the private room and almost ran down the stairs. He found a quiet spot by the bathrooms and immediately dialed Phichit.

His friend barely let it ring before picking up, “Yuuri! Did you get my texts? Have you heard anything yet?”

“No, no, I’ve actually been at lunch going over the job details. Phichit, I got it.” He was calmer about saying it out loud that he thought he would have been. Phichit, on the other hand, had him holding his phone a few inches away at the shrill screaming he was emitting. “Sshhh,” Yuuri hissed. “Everyone can probably hear you!”

He finished screaming and segued into, “Who? You’re still not sitting at the table with the company or anything are you?”

“No, no,” he repeated nervously. Despite whatever anxiety he was fighting right now the huge grin he’d been wanting to let out since he got here finally appeared. “I stepped out. I’m just with Victor.”

Once again he jerked the phone away from his ear as Phichit let out a scream that could shatter glass. When he thought it was ending he asked, “Finished?” into the receiver before Phichit started cackling madly and let out a renewed but muffled high pitch scream. Oh right. He’d gotten that “scream into the pillow” habit from Phichit. He assumed that for whatever reasons he wasn’t at work at the moment. Or he was surely pissing off anyone who was sharing the nap pod room with him. “Phichit!” he shouted.

“Why the hell are you calling me if you’re out to lunch with Victor Nikiforov?!” The question made far more sense than Yuuri getting up to make this call.

“I uuhhh, the amount of money kinda got me shook, I dunno?”

Phichit cursed in Thai, “I am hanging the fuck up right now. Do not call me back. Get your ass up there. Take the money. Sign the contracts. And don’t come home till you’re are famous and have Victor wrapped around your little finger!”

He was good to his word. Phichit abruptly ended the call, leaving Yuuri dumbstruck in the hallway as waiters and patrons walked by him. What else could he do now besides do what his friend told him? The first part at least.

Victor was far too patient and understanding when he got back to the table and began signing where it was necessary. He remained undecided on how to have the hotel room covered, to which Victor said there was no issue figuring it out later. But it lit a fire under Yuuri to get his stay extended right away. He didn’t want to risk the hotel being booked up for the next week and having to move. That bed was comfortable and he was going to need it.

The bill was taken care of and both men made their way downstairs to exit, Victor quickly slipping on a pair of what had to be very expensive sunglasses with reflective lenses. “Get some rest, Yuuri. I’ll need you at the studio by 7 am tomorrow, sharp. I’ll text you the address later, it won’t be the same one as the auditions.”

“Mmm, you too. And thank you.” Yuuri nodded as Victor stood tall in front of him, pausing as a small smile graced his lips.

“Oh, do you want me to drop you off at your hotel? I really don’t mind.” He motioned behind him with his leather clutch. There were too many nice cars parked along the curb for Yuuri to try to guess which one was his.

Besides, the offer startled him again and he wasted no time shaking his head. “It’s ok. I need to make a stop on the way back anyway.” He lied. But something told him Victor wasn’t the kind of person to push the subject, even if he just politely declined.

Victor’s face twitched a little, but he smiled broadly, nodding in concession. “Alright. Remember to save any car service receipts then. Get back safely.”

They said their goodbyes and turned in opposite directions. Yuuri was too nervous to stick around and wait for a lift, too nervous to see what kind of car Victor drove. Besides, a short walk wouldn’t hurt after the meal he’d just had. He got a safe distance away before pulling his cell phone from his pocket and shooting a text to Phichit. “I need you to overnight me some of my dance and workout gear. Can you get it in the mail before the post office closes?”

Phichit must have had his phone close by after the call earlier, _“Can do! You want a good mix yeah? Like those comfy black sweats and the blue sparkly briefs?”_

Yuuri sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose under his glasses and replied, “Phichit, no.”

_“Phichit, yes.”_

“Phichit….”

_“Fine. I’ll go pack everything up now, Sir.”_

“Don’t Sir me.” Yuuri hovered over the send button but pulled back, adding, “Hey, thank you Phichit. Seriously. I’m on my way back to the hotel now. I’ll call when I’m in.”

He closed his texts and opened the app to call a lift when a sudden roar from a car engine startled him. It was silky and loud and pulled Yuuri’s attention back over his shoulder. Pulling out from the corner they’d been near was a sleek matte black Ferrari with tinted windows. The car took off like a bullet as soon as it rounded the corner onto the main boulevard.

Yuuri stared at it in awe, a knowing smile painting his lips. That had to be Victor’s car.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any kudos, comments, tumblr asks and tweets are ALWAYS appreciated! I try my best to respond to each one, because your love and support keeps me going. Thanks for reading! 
> 
> [Tumblr: LemonYOI](https://lemonyoi.tumblr.com/) and [Twitter: ViktorBunny](https://twitter.com/ViktorBunny).


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First day at the studio, Yuuri learns his role for the video and gets to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I split this chapter in 2 because it felt just a little too long. So expect the 2nd half fairly soon. Millennium Dance Complex is a real dance studio in Studio City, though I am taking some obvious creative liberties with it as I've never personally been there. 
> 
> I hope you'll enjoy all of Chris's crop tops throughout the chapters.
> 
> Another aesthetic board for you all! Please imagine the girl holding the Drama Queen pose is Georgi lolol! ;P  
> 

Excitement, nerves, adrenaline and the time difference made for an easy wake up the next day. He’d been good yesterday and took it easy after lunch. A few phone calls were made once he got back. One to his parents back in Japan to tell them the good news. Another to his old dance instructor Minako, also back in Japan, who’d been a huge supporter and kept in contact with him since he’d left for college. And one to Phichit so he could go over everything out loud and reaffirm that this was really happening.

It had kept feeling like a dream, even with Victor’s texts here and there. Studio address for a place called Millennium Dance Complex out in Studio City was received and Yuuri was made aware that at some point he would be meeting with Mila and head of wardrobe. Somehow the idea of meeting Mila felt more normal than seeing Victor again.

He’d spent the last hours of his evening relaxing, going over various pole and dance videos for any additional inspiration and making sure he knew when to leave the hotel the next morning. But above all, he spent it reminding himself that he could do this, on the off chance his nerves got to be too much.

Yuuri had plenty of time to get through his morning routine, dress, pack a change of clothes for after rehearsal and make it down to the lobby to call a car. He grabbed some fruit and the largest to-go cup of coffee the breakfast buffet had to offer and spent the drive forcing it all down. His habit of not being hungry or eating before competitions thanks to anxiety was something he was still learning to break. The next few days were going to be especially difficult, mentally and physically, so he needed to do his best to be at his peak.

He’d been instructed by Victor that upon arrival at the studio he needed to sign in at the front. The young attendant ran through the same breakdown Victor had given him over text. “Okay Yuuri, here is your pass for the week. Just tap at the check in here,” she pointed to a device at the end of the reception desk as she placed the small generic plastic card in front of Yuuri. “It will give you access to studio x. This studio is private so it’s the only one located in this area of the building.” Victor had mentioned the privacy too. Apparently, a lot of celebrities used the studio for rehearsals or larger auditions. The girl quickly told him about the locker rooms with showers and the room for catering and bid him a good day.

He thanked the girl and slowly made his way through the small automatic access gate and down the hall.

So far so good, and it was quiet sans an instructor waving hello to the receptionist as she took off towards the public wing. Maybe he was the first one here? It was still twenty to seven. Lucky for him he’d missed any major traffic. It was always better to be early than late, especially on the first day.

Yuuri continued his way past a few doors and both locker rooms, skidding to a halt the moment he took a step in front of a window to the studio. His heart skipped a beat as he quickly turned to press his back against the solid part of the wall.

He’d caught a glance of Victor sitting further into the room on the floor before the mirrored wall, doing some wide legged stretches. There was no one else inside the studio yet, and he wasn’t about to walk in now. The thought of being alone with Victor again, so soon, made his entire body race with adrenaline.

_”Nope, nope. Can’t do this right now.”_ Yuuri made haste back in the direction of the men’s locker room and pushed through the door. While twenty minutes was nothing compared to the almost two they’d spent together at lunch yesterday, Yuuri was not about to spend that time stretching alone with him.

He scurried around the corner of the locker room that led towards the showers and was about to toss his bag down to a bench when he crashed into another person. Yuuri bounced off the body, almost getting his glasses thrown from his face. He scrambled to keep them in place and get his footing back under him, “Sorry!” He blurted, taking a look at the person he almost ran over in his hurry to hide.

“Pas de souci, ma chérie.” Chris smiled at him and quickly assessed Yuuri for any damage. “You alright?”

Yuuri nodded, adjusting his glasses nervously. “Yes, thank you.” He tried not to look too shocked as he caught sight of the words across the heather gray crop top Chris wore. But his eyebrows rising into his fringe probably gave it away. _Pound Cake._

“Good, I would have felt horrible for damaging our star dancer on the first day.” He inhaled deeply and ran a hand through the short blonde locks that crowned his head. “How are you doing this lovely morning? Everything went okay yesterday?”

“Mmmn,” Yuuri agreed. “Everything is fine, I’m fine.”

Chris tilted his head with a puckered grin, “Fine is for hair Yuuri, how are _you_ doing today? Ready for the work ahead?”

Yuuri took a moment to try to reply, caught off guard by the odd remark, “Uhm, I’m okay,” he lied. “Ready for work.” He was not, in fact, one hundred percent okay. Maybe sixty percent. The rest were nerves he’d have to handle on his own.

“Perfect,” Chris purred, flinging a towel that was in his other hand over a shoulder. “Once you put your things away come right out, we’ll be warming up once Georgi gets here. Let’s have fun today, oui?” He winked.

All he could do was nod as Chris made his exit. Yuuri sighed and dropped his bag to a bench, unzipping it to pull out the necessities, liquid chalk, his combination lock and a towel. He decided to keep his black cropped joggers on over his pole shorts for now. Those and his black tank could be removed after warm-ups.

As much as he wanted to sit and prepare himself for what was about to happen he knew he’d done all he could the night before. He couldn’t spend every morning before practice being too freaked out about the idea of being in the same room as Victor. Not when he had to _work_ with him.

Yuuri rolled his shoulders and neck as he took a few deep breaths to prepare himself. He shoved the bag into a locker and popped the lock on before padding out towards the studio in his sneakers. At least now he knew that Chris was here. As strange as he seemed, he didn’t put Yuuri on edge like Victor did.

He made his way slowly back towards the studio and entered it to the sound of the two men laughing at something as they stood off in the corner near a built-in sound system. The warmness of it filled the empty studio, making it sound twice as loud. Getting Victor’s laugh in stereo set butterflies free in his stomach, his bottle of liquid chalk practically crushed by the surprise effect it had on him.

Just as they quieted down Victor caught Yuuri out of the corner of his eye and looked over Chris’s shoulder to give him a wave and smile, “Yuuri, good morning!”

All the things that made him weak; a smiling Victor saying his name. Yuuri swore he lost the feeling in his legs, but kept moving forward out of sheer will to just not look like a complete and utter fool. “Good morning.” At least he was able to reply and give a small smile in return. His hands were still white knuckling around his chalk and towel though.

“Are you excited to get started today?” Victor asked as Yuuri came to a stop near the two men. Chris eyed his friend curiously while Yuuri cleared his throat.

“Ah, yeah, I am.” It was hard to not smile back at Victor, whose eyes were practically sparkling with enthusiasm.

“Perfect, I’m happy to hear that.” Victor glanced at Chris, his smile twisting to the side as if to silently say something and then he quickly clapped his hands on his shoulder and spun him around to face Yuuri. He patted the shoulder with enough force that Chris raised an eyebrow, keeping it there as Victor continued. “Chris and I have some fun ideas for you to go over today. You will have our full attention today since your piece will need the most work.”

Yuuri’s lips formed an ‘Oh’ shape as the word stopped on the tip of his tongue. He wasn’t surprised so much by the fact his routine needed the most work. Of course, it did. While the others probably already had weeks of rehearsals behind them he was just starting today. No. What surprised him was that it was just going to be the four of them today.

Chris held back a small chuckle as he shook his head, “I’m sorry Victor has a habit of leaving out the details and letting things fall where they may.” Victor narrowed his eyes incredulously at the side of Chris’ head. “We want to make sure that we cover everything we need to today-”

“Your role is extremely important in the video.” Victor butted in, removing his hand from Chris’ shoulder. “So after warm-ups, we’ll go over exactly what that entails, play the song for you as many times through as you need-”

“You’ll get sick of it by the time we hit the soundstage,” Chris interjected.

Victor rolled his eyes to the ceiling, “If you do that’s a good thing, it means you know it inside and out. Which is exactly what we like.” He gave a warm smile to Yuuri, who nodded in understanding.

At least Victor looked a little more rested than he had before. He seemed a lot looser than the other day, was smiling more, and looked lighter. There must have been a lot of stress taken off his shoulders when Yuuri signed those contracts and showed up this morning. One less thing for him to have to worry about work wise.

Good. If Yuuri played even a small part in helping him it would make this job a little less intimidating. Not that any of this wasn’t intimidating. He could barely find words to speak and was grateful that Victor and Chris allowed him some time alone after they showed him where the pole he’d be using was set up.

It was a nice location on the far end of the long studio, situated in the mirrored corner furthest from the entrance with more than enough space for him to work. They wanted to make sure when the other dancers arrived tomorrow that he could rehearse without any interruptions. The pole had been fixed into place and the height the studio allowed for was really nice. Apparently, they had it put in especially for him. Which shocked Yuuri, to say the least.

“We use this studio enough it’s practically home.” Chris laughed. “So we barely had to ask when we needed this put in.”

He used his few minutes of alone time to kick off his shoes and socks and test the poles stability. Solid. Perfect. Yuuri snuck a few selfies in the mirror as he stood near the pole. It felt a little weird, he usually didn’t do things like this. But if this was his one time to work alongside his idol he was going to make sure he remembered it. So he promised himself to try to take as many photos as he could. That and Phichit would probably never let him live it down if he didn’t.

Yuuri had just snapped his third attempt at a photo, admiring the fact he’d been able to catch Victor’s back over his shoulder as he and Chris talked by the sound system controls when another voice rang out through the studio. “Oh, city of angels, how you taunt me every morning with this hellish commute.” Yuuri turned to catch a tall, fit, dark-haired man enter with a forearm draped across his forehead.

“You live the closest out of all of us Georgi, shove it.” Chris greeted him.

Georgi plucked his black sunglasses off with the flick of a wrist and sighed, “Dear, I am exhausted from the other night's marathon of pole videos.” He pointed the corner of the cat eye frames at Victor, “You,” his voice deep with the abruptness of the word. “Threw off my precious sleep schedule.”

Victor twisted a smile at him, “I would never.” He mocked disbelief. “Except for that one time that I would.”

“Try a hundred.” Georgi sighed again. “Where is our pole star anyway?”

Yuuri watched nervously from the safety of the pole as Victor waved in his direction to come over. He made his way back across the studio to make introductions, shaking Georgi’s hand. “Pleased to be working with you. Mila and the rest of us were highly impressed with your audition. Like poetry in motion.” Georgi swooned and fluttered his lashes. “I can’t pole dance to save my life or my sleep schedule.” He glared over at Victor who just tsked and folded his arms across his chest. “But I knew right away you had what it was going to take.” Georgi boasted proudly.

Yuuri swung his eyes between the three of them, trying his best to smile and thank Georgi for the overly loaded compliment.

“Okay, now that you’ve finally arrived in style,” Chris threw up jazz hands for a fraction of a second. “Let’s get this started.”

“Yes!” Victor rallied. “We have a lot to get through, let’s begin.”

Georgi threw a small bag to a bench on the side as Victor turned to a docked iPod. Chris ushered Yuuri in front of the mirror with Georgi in tow and a second later the first few beats of a familiar pop song came through the studio's speakers. He placed it pretty quickly ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ by the Chainsmokers. One of his students had done a competition to it a few months back. Victor hurried to the front of their group and called out the first of their warm-ups. “Shoulder rolls, to the front.”

Yuuri immediately sprung into action with the others, lest he embarrass himself in some way. A few counts in and Victor called out to change directions. It was surprisingly difficult to not feel some general wave of anxiety wash over him as he followed through the rest of the neck warm-ups. He knew he had to keep glancing at Victor in anticipation of the next move but it was still embarrassing somehow.

To the beat of the music, Victor put them through to the next one, “Arms, to the front.”

Maybe it was just weird because he felt like he was intruding on their warm up. Chris and Georgi kept the pace like only true repetition could provide. Meanwhile, Yuuri had a fraction of a second delay to transition, struggling between whether to keep his eye on Victor himself or his reflection.

“To the back.”

It was silly to feel like this. He knew he shouldn’t. Of course, he would be a little behind, this was his first time going through their routine with them. “And down, to the front.” Victor sidestepped into a squat while continuing his arm circles.

Those butterflies in his stomach returned as his eyes seemed drawn to the tight pull of Victor’s gray dance leggings around his ass and thighs. Wonderful, he missed the first count completely. It was a struggle from there on out as the warm-ups got more and more intense. Involving more bending before they made their way to the floor to work their cores and legs. It was full bodied and even at his level of fitness, Yuuri was panting by the time they were finished. A shy glance at the others brought a blush to his already pink cheeks. They seemed almost unaffected.

He breathed in deep and exhaled as quietly as possible, attempting to calm his breathing. Yuuri had to remind himself that they did this almost every day. His body was usually quick to get used to new routines, so he tried to cut himself some slack in that sense.

Victor scooped up a small remote he’d placed near the mirror with his water, hitting pause on the next song that attempted to play. “Okay, Yuuri, let’s run through the song real quick. Then, Chris, Georgi and I will show you what we’ve got for the bigger main group dance. We want you to get a feel for what the rest of the dancers will be doing. Hopefully, that will make your job a little easier?”

Yuuri nodded as Victor hit a few buttons, switching over to a new playlist that consisted of one song; Mila’s new single. The four of them stood around in complete silence as the electronic dance tune filled the studio. It was typical Mila fair as her bigger hits usually went; fun, upbeat, highly energetic with a playful-sexy adult edge.

She had essentially grown up in front of the world. Churning out hits and selling out stadiums since she was only 16. She spent the year she’d turned 18 slowly revising her image and by the time she was barely 19 had cultivated the new her that kept album and ticket sales on fire. Now at the still young age of 23, you’d be hard-pressed to not hear her racy lyrics pumping through every club venue around the world. DJs loved reworking her already danceable hits and people loved dancing to them.

And throughout it all, the man who had been highly credited alongside her success; Victor Nikiforov. Mila’s producers knew exactly what they were doing when they brought on the young choreographer in the very beginning. He’d already been making splashes on social media with his videos. His work was fresh and exciting and above all edgy with just enough spice to catch anyone's eye. It was exactly what they needed for their already naturally talented songbird. They snatched him up out of Russia and transplanted him to Hollywood at the same time they did so to Mila.

It was history from there. Yuuri had followed it all from the very first breakout hit. If he were being honest he’d been a fan of Mila’s before Victor’s. But after a few music videos and always getting his eye caught by the silver-haired dancer, he was hooked.

Much like he was now. He hadn’t realized he’d been slowly working his line of sight up Victor until he caught his eyes tracing along his pronounced collarbones, up the curve of his neck and yikes he couldn’t stop himself as his eyes locked with Victor’s. The other man smiled softly over at him and Yuuri blinked, throwing his gaze back to the floor in a panic. He forced his focus on his own feet for the rest of the first playthrough.

Before he knew it, it was done. Lord, did he even hear any of it?!

The worst part was that this next run through he had to really look at Victor. He could always just try to watch Chris or Georgi, but who was he kidding? There was zero chance he would be able to watch anyone else, not with Victor dancing in front of him in person. The three of them had Yuuri take a spot off to the side and he silently leaned against the mirror as they took their positions and Victor started the song up again.

For the next three minutes and thirty-four seconds, Yuuri stood there in deep concentration, squeezing one of his wrists every time he felt his mind wander. He did much better this time, even with his eyes glued to his idol. There was something about watching him dance that Yuuri could handle. Rather than just having him close by with the feeling of blue eyes looking at him. Not like the suggestive, sex-charged moves helped. But with Victor’s attention drawn to his job, Yuuri could follow both the song and the routine, letting his mind flood with ideas for his own.

He breathed a sigh of relief and allowed himself to smile as they finished. The dance was perfectly Victor in every way, and just like him, absolutely flawless. “Amazing.” Yuuri found himself barely squeaking out in his awe as they regrouped.

Victor ran a hand through his dance-messed hair and smiled at Yuuri.

“So,” Chris stepped up next to them. “Between the lyrics, general vibe of the music and the main group dance it should be pretty easy to tell we’re aiming for high sex appeal here.”

Yuuri nodded at him as Victor cleared his throat, “Hence why we all agreed that- in line with Mila’s vision- we bring in a pole dancer.” Victor dove into the video concept in full for him. The song was basically about a young, rich, single woman who was all about the fun things in life. Which for this video included wild fashion, extravagant partying, surrounding herself with beautiful scantily clad dancers and apparently copious amounts of champagne and casual sex. That last part was not so much hinted at in the video, Victor explained, as much as it was supposed to slap people in the face and have them begging for more.

“Especially with your role,” Victor continued. “You are basically seducing her through a private show.”

Yuuri swallowed hard, trying to hide the uneasy feeling creeping in around his edges. Seducing Mila huh? Yuuri was fairly sure he couldn’t seduce his way out a wet paper bag. He had zero experience in that matter. Zero. Absolutely zilch.

He took another deep breath and nodded.

Thankfully, though, he did have experience in flipping a switch through his dancing. At least, so he’d been told. Jobs came in often that asked for sex appeal, pole and otherwise. He’d gotten through those just fine in the past. As long as he concentrated on what was needed of him, he’d get through this too. He nodded, “Seduce Mila, gotcha.”

Victor chuckled lightly, probably catching the slight tension in Yuuri’s shoulders, “You’ll see later today when she stops by, she is insanely easy to get along with.”

“Yes,” Georgi chimed in. “Despite the image she puts out in her recent work she is bubbly and sweet. She puts on this act the same as anyone else might have to.”

Chris let out a sly laugh, wrinkling his nose as Georgi, “Lies, ma chérie. You two get as freaky as you please in private, I should know. You had me join you those two times-”

“I swear to God, Chris. Feed those paparazzi rumors anymore and I will have to-”

“Tie me up again?” He cut Georgi off with a wink and kissy face. “Do your worst.”

“O-okay,” Yuuri stuttered under his breath.

“Anyway,” Victor raised his eyebrows, ignoring the two men as they exchanged looks, his focus back on Yuuri now as he smiled. “Let’s get started on you, Yuuri.” He pushed between Chris and Georgi and walked their new dancer across the studio to his pole. “Chris had been testing it last night, got some cleaner for it, extra liquid chalk too, but if there’s anything else you need just ask.” Yuuri made a small noise of agreement as he watched Victor grab it with one hand. “We got you a static-spin so you could do whatever moves you feel are best suited for this.”

“Sadly we will, like in the studio, only have the one pole. For set aesthetic purposes. So unlike some routines, you won’t be able to transition from one to the other quickly.” Chris added as he and Georgi finally joined them.

“But that’s the magic of editing,” Victor told him. “We can cut any time if you’d like to switch. So please do not worry if you end up with a segmented routine. I’ll be there to work with Mila and the director during your scenes.”

“Likewise,” Chris coughed gently. “Speaking of.” He stepped up and grabbed the pole below Victor’s hand and nudged him out of the way with his hip to steal Yuuri’s attention. “Since I’m the only one here with actual pole experience,” a sidelong glance was tossed at Victor. “I do have a few moves I’m hoping I can pass by you, suggestions to work into your routine. Your abilities are certainly far superior to mine but these were ones I worked on at Mila’s suggestion, just so we could get the ball rolling the other week.”

Yuuri nodded, “Of course, I’d love to see and hopefully I can use them.”

Both he and Chris stripped down to their dance shorts and removed their tops, chalked up and got to work. Chris was certainly a beginner and it showed when even Yuuri had to help spot for a few moves, especially the inverted ones. But Yuuri had to admit he was impressed and that this was a really good springboard into him getting something put together. They went through a few moves while Victor and Georgi watched attentively close by. Yuuri would spot Chris now and then and help him through any moves he made mistakes on. Which had him copying some of the moves right after him, stringing a few together with nicer transitions to show him how some could look when fluffed up a little.

It was a good start, and Yuuri was extremely thankful for it. Between this, the video concept and the main dance routine they showed him, he already had a lot of ideas he was excited to try out. The others collectively sighed in relief and smiled when Yuuri showed his enthusiasm for Chris’s ideas. “I can easily work these in with some more advanced moves. It’s kind of fun to keep a mix in any way.”

The excitement he had seemed to catch with Georgi especially and he jumped towards the pole from where he’d been standing next to Victor. “Oh Yuuri, check it out! I was messing around with the pole yesterday after crew got it set up!” Georgi grabbed the pole with both hands, pulling his knees up towards his chest and squeezing his upper thighs and sneakers to it. He proceeded then to curl himself around one side of it, into a fetal position, wrapping his arms around his knees as he started to slip a little. “My core strength is amazing!”

To be fair Yuuri was pretty impressed he was able to hold it with his dance leggings still on. And while there was a lot wrong with it he smiled at the attempt. “Oh, that’s actually a pose called the Drama Quee-”

Chris suddenly interrupted with a series of tut-tuts, putting a finger over his own lips, “That’s fantastic Georgi, now wipe down the damn pole for Yuuri.”

Victor leaned in near Yuuri’s shoulder and whispered, “That’s our secret nickname for Georgi.” He explained to a clueless Yuuri. “He doesn’t like it.”

“Oohh.” Yuuri could see how that might not be the best of nicknames to earn. Georgi did seem to be a bit extra, he hadn’t seen the Drama Queen side of things yet though, so just took their word for it.

“If you like we can leave you to work on things alone for a little?” Victor asked. “There’s a spot in the video we’re just smoothing out some details for, so I can put the song on repeat for you? I’d love to regroup and see what you’ve got after that.” Again, all Yuuri could seem to do was nod, kissing his teeth nervously at how close Victor was to him. “If you need anything I’m right here.”

“Thank you.” Yuuri barely peeped out. There was a burst of warmth in the bottom of his gut when Victor smiled at him, pausing in thought.

“I’ll umm, leave you to it then, for now.” He scratched the side of his head, taking a few short-lived looks back at Yuuri before they separated to get back to work.

Yuuri struggled to push down the warm, fluttering feeling in him, grabbing the freshly wiped down pole and pressing his cheek against its cool surface. He closed his eyes and practiced some breathing for a second. _”Just focus on your job, Yuuri. Relax.”_ He reminded himself.

It was always better when he did that. And for the next hour, he poured himself into what he needed to do, letting the music drown out Victor calling out counts and the like to Chris and Georgi. This was what he was here for. To pole dance. If he couldn’t do that because he was too distracted by anything else then what the hell was he getting paid all that money for?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for reading! All your kudos and comments always help encourage me to keep writing. Yuuri has a lot of people to meet in the next chapter. Things seem to be moving along nicely for him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri's super busy first day in the studio continues with more routine work, wardrobe measuring, and his first run through with Mila.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of characters show up in this chapter. I'm hoping to loop them all in again at points throughout the fic. And Mila finally arrives!!! I actually had a lot of fun writing her and I can't wait for more of it. 
> 
> Side note: I am dedicating the Mila/Georgi relationship in this fic to Saniika, because she's such a power house to rare pairs and the first time I saw her art was some super hot NSFW Georgila and I fell in love, both with the pair and her work! XD 
> 
> Enjoy another aesthetic board, which gave me many frustrations... many, many, many, lol.  
> 

Yuuri put himself through moves and transitions that he thought matched best with the music. Taking a step back now and again to think on which ones flowed best, what could get him into the next suggestive pose and what would work to give him possible breaks between static and spin. It made his job so much easier knowing they would cut when needed, but he was determined to keep it to a minimum of two. Whether he worked it to be static, spin, static or spin, static, spin he wanted everything to look as seamless as possible.

Yuuri had lost himself to the process. Something he always seemed to do when working on a new routine. And the music made it all the more fun. As he let himself get into the role he was supposed to play he found himself coming up with some new ideas, like fresh takes on old poses he hadn’t used in a while or ever before.

The best part of it all was that he’d used Mila’s music in the past in the studio. The upbeat and playful nature of it always helped inspire him to create some interesting combinations. He’d mess around on his own before or after classes, playing a favorite from a recent album and just mess around for the hell of it. The new song was certainly doing the trick for him.

He hadn’t realized how long he’d been going for. Hours passed on smoothing out combinations, changing things up if they didn’t transition well enough, fine-tuning moves and poses to work with the lyrics. He’d pause once in a while to think things out or get water. He barely registered that the music had been stopped as he finished testing a combination of pole tumbles, then gracefully flipped himself down to slid into a controlled front split.

There was a light gasp from out in the studio, followed by some embarrassing applause. Yuuri looked over as Victor exclaimed, “Wow! Amazing Yuuri!” with both Chris and Georgi standing there clapping in awe.

Yuuri was about to pull out of the split and thank them when he noticed an older man with a fedora and a young, angry-looking blonde boy standing in the doorway. “Impressive.” He all but grumbled.

The gruff, deep voice caught the others attention and Yuuri scrambled to his feet in the corner. “Yakov! I wasn’t expecting you today.” Victor smiled, walking over to embrace him.

He got as far as opening his arms when Yakov sidestepped him completely and made his way in a beeline towards Yuuri. The man’s dress shoes clicked over the polished hardwood, stopping just a few feet back to assess Yuuri. “So, this is the new dancer?”

“Ah, Yuuri Katsuki, sir!” Yuuri bowed gently then stood up straight, taking a step towards him and reaching his hand out to shake Yakov’s.

Neither greeting was returned though. His face remained hardened and he turned back towards Victor, leaving Yuuri to shrink back a little. “Victor! What have I told you about hiring dancers?”

The young blonde bit back a small chuckle as he started to make his way into the room, “You’re gonna get it now, old man.” His green eyes flashed over at Victor in wicked amusement.

“To always make sure all paperwork is submitted in triplicate.” Victor started. “Done, done and done.”

“What else?” Yakov asked, crossing his arms over the deep red button down he wore.

“That any final choices need to be approved by Mila and yourself, which you-”

“What else?” Yakov cut him off, taking a few intimidating steps towards Victor.

“That you need the final say with an interview,” Victor answered him sheepishly.

“Vitya…” Yakov sighed in exasperation.

“In my defense, you had so many back to back meetings yesterday, Yakov. We all knew the deadline was so tight and he needed to be in the studio the next day.” Victor defended himself before Yakov cut him off again.

“My last meeting was at six that evening, things could have waited till then.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I trust your judgment when it comes to the talent like I always do, but you also knew how sensitive this project was. I appreciate that you covered the necessary paperwork for me, but Vitya, please,” Yakov practically pleaded with him. “Slow down next time and let me handle it. I nearly had a heart attack when I got the clearance email from financial.”

“I’m sorry, I promise I did it to try to help. I knew how busy you were.” Victor’s face went soft as he bowed his head a little.

“From now on just concentrate on what you need to, dancing. Leave the contracts to me.” Yakov’s voice wasn’t as rough now, though still firm, he placed a hand on Victor’s shoulder and squeezed, getting an apologetic look from Victor.

The young blonde wrinkled his nose up at Victor as Yakov pivoted back towards Yuuri. “How come you always get off so easy?”

Victor smiled down at him as the boy stomped past the three men and followed after Yavok. “Because as insufferable and impatient as he can be Vitya has proven himself capable and trustworthy.” The wrinkled man turned to glare down at the boy, “Unlike someone who stayed out past curfew last weekend.”

The blonde huffed out with zero response. Instead he swung an angry gaze in Yuuri’s direction.

Victor quickly followed behind them to make introductions. “Yuuri, this is Yakov Feltsman, Mila’s and our manager. And his grandson, Yuri Plisetsky, also one of my dance proteges.”

“Nice to meet you both.” Yuuri wasn’t sure which person to shy away from as he greeted them. The older man who was probably judging Yuuri by how much money he was spending on him. Or the young boy who looked like he was sizing him up for a fight.

Yuri puffed his chest out and stared daggers up at him before opening his mouth, “There’s only room for one Yuri in Mila’s dance team and it’s me. So don’t get any big ideas just because you got hired for one measly video.” He turned away in a huff leaving an exasperated scowl on Yakov’s face.

Yakov simply told him; “Don’t let me down, Yuuri” before he turned to Victor and pulled him across the room, switching to Russian and launching into what sounded like a lecture by his tone.

\----

Things returned to normal after Yakov and Yuri left. Yakov’s appearance was more to make sure Yuuri had shown up and Victor wasn’t in a panic secretly calling the next dancer in line. 

Surprisingly, Victor and Chris tried apologizing for Yuri’s outburst earlier, even though Yuuri tried to assure them it was fine. Apparently, due to his age, the studio couldn’t hire him until later that year when he turned sixteen. And the fact that Yakov refused to sign off on his underage grandson working Hollywood level sets created a bit of friction these days.

Georgi was quick to defend in his own way, “The poor boy is frustrated and pent up.”

To which everyone rolled their eyes. “I’ve never seen any other fifteen-year-old with as much freedom as he has, or as many cars before he even has his provisional license,” Chris stated as he and Victor chuckled.

“Otabek tells me Yuri keeps texting him asking for spinning lessons.” Georgi winked at them. It was explained to Yuuri that Otabek was one of Mila’s trusted audio engineers who also DJed on the side mostly for fun. He took care of officially remixes for release and was usually on set for video shoots too.

“Honestly Otabek would probably do a lot of good for Yuri. All I ever see that boy do is spend his time in the dance studio. Reminds me of a certain someone.” Chris’s voice trailed off as he side-eyed a clueless Victor.

Now that they were back to rehearsals after the interruption, Victor and the others spent more time with Yuuri. Most of their suggestions came at him in the form of questions due to their lack of experience with pole, but they were nonetheless welcome.

Yuuri was starting to feel sluggish by the time they stopped for a later than usual lunch. He kept it light, trying to refuel enough but knowing he still had hours ahead of him in the studio. The ebb and flow of nerves didn’t help either. Brought on each time Victor got too near or demonstrated how he might want Yuuri to move a hand or throw a certain kind of look.

His barrage of questions and hovering didn’t stop when lunch came either. Is everything alright? That’s all you’re eating? Is the Vitamin Water fine, do you want a protein drink instead?

While it was kind that he was trying to make sure Yuuri was okay it left him more frazzled than he’d like to admit. He was positive he didn’t get out more than five separate words to him so far, the lump in his throat always returning when those bright blue eyes focused on him.

Which made it so much more difficult when wardrobe showed up an hour later. Victor introduced him to Emil Nekola. A designer who’d been working with Mila for the last three tours. And while everyone else took advantage of the long lunch break Victor stayed right by Yuuri’s side as Emil took every measurement possible, including some intimate ones.

“Vitya!”

Before Yuuri could look up from the action centered on the measuring tape wrapped around one of his upper thighs there was a blur of neon sneaker. A red-headed woman launched herself onto Victor. “Vitya! Vitya! Vitya!” She chanted as she hung from around his neck.

Victor laughed, hugging her back, “Mila! Mila! Mila!” he replied cheerily. “I thought you wouldn’t be here until later.”

She planted her sneakers back to the floor, “I was too excited to meet our new dancer you’ve been raving about. Plus Sara said I should probably be here with wardrobe to confirm any last minute details for his look.”

Yuuri opened and closed his mouth as Emil stood with a chuckle, flinging his measuring tape around his neck and saying a quick hello to Mila with a more professional hug. “So Mila,” Victor gestured towards him. “This is Yuuri.”

Mila gasped lightly as she hastily wrapped her arms around Yuuri’s neck and pulled him into a tight embrace. “Yuuri!” She sang out happily, drawing back enough to grab the sides of his face, grinning happily. “Our star!”

It was hard to not smile with that kind of greeting. He was certain the tips of his ears were turning red though with the way she held him, eyes sparkling as she took him in. “It’s so nice to meet you.” He got out through slightly squished lips.

She cooed and pulled him in for another hug. All the fuss grabbed the attention of Chris and Georgi who slid up to them with their coffee. “Vitya!” Mila chirped again as she finally released Yuuri, turning to Victor with a small bounce. “You’ve been working with him this morning for the routine?”

“Ah, yes. We spent some time going over what you and Chris came up with and he’s been taking it from there with our suggestions.” Victor nodded as they looked back to Yuuri.

“Y-yeah,” Yuuri agreed. “I mean, your music makes for some good inspiration. I feel like by tonight I should have something pretty solid down.”

Mila gasped again, “That’s amazing! So fast!” She grinned letting Georgi slip an arm around her waist silently, taking another sip of his coffee. Yuuri tried not to stare but couldn’t help but wonder if they were dating. Last he heard Mila had been single for some time now.

He shooed the thought away for the moment, “Well, I have a lot of time to make up for.” And wow did he. Judging from the peeks he got at the dances they’d been working on earlier they had obviously been hard at work way before he auditioned.

Mila had arrived dressed to do her part too, dance gear on and ready to go. But the studio was buzzing with everything other than dancing at the moment. He was introduced to Sara, Mila’s trusted assistant and best friend. She helped Emil take down any final notes on what was needed for Yuuri as he stood there getting poked, measured, photos taken, and others held up next to him. Mila tossed around ideas for styling hair and makeup but was too torn to make any final decisions that day.

Through it all, was Victor, standing by Yuuri’s to help with any questions or concerns. All smiles as things fell into place. As nervous as Victor made him feel, he was thankful for him staying close now. He had no idea how to reply to anything involving makeup ideas. And was quick to try to steer Mila in another direction when it came to hair. “He needs to move freely right? Giving him similar looks to ours might hide his face and inhibit movement don’t you think? Slick his hair back, keep it simple yet stylish.”

When Emil felt comfortable with the information he’d gotten he hurried out to get to work and the group was quickly put back to their own work. Now with Mila here Yuuri had another bit of time to himself. Victor took her, Chris, and Georgi through other parts of the video; went back over group dances she was part of and made sure to go over any solo parts to see that she’d been keeping up outside the studio practices.

Yuuri took it all in as he worked to get nearer to his own finish line. He was pleasantly surprised with himself and the amount he had choreographed by the time Victor turned all their attention back to him. And he obliged Mila’s excited pleas for a full run through of what he had. “I’m so amazed!” she exclaimed at the end of it all. “I knew Victor would find the perfect dancer for this, but I never imagined… how did you put this all together so quickly?” Mila all but gaped at him.

Victor chuckled beside her, “Same way we put together our dances for you, repetition and experience.”

Her lips circled as she oo-ed in Yuuri’s direction then looked up at Victor, “He’s like the pole version of you, Vitya.”

There was no way to hide the immediate shock that popped up on Yuuri’s face. A small, choked noise emitted from behind his tightly closed lips. He wanted to protest, to say that his level of experience was far below that of Victor’s. That he was just lucky with how Mila’s music always helped to inspire him. Every time he tried to open his mouth though nothing came out, and before he knew it the conversation was wrapping up.

Victor flashed a smile at Yuuri and agreed with Mila, asking if they wanted to start doing some partial run-throughs so she could get a feel for how to interact with him. The moment he suggested it Mila pounced. Honestly, he was a bit thankful for it. Getting back to work meant more to distract himself with.

For the actual video shoot at the soundstage, Yuuri would be dancing on an elevated platform to which Mila would be able to easily lean on in any capacity or possibly crawl over. This would give her the freedom to answer the siren call Yuuri’s character was supposed to be sending her way. Unfortunately for them, they had to make due with the flat studio flooring. Mila took a spot a few feet back from Yuuri and slid to her belly, getting comfortable as she kicked her feet up. 

After that, Yuuri was surrounded.

Victor sat cross-legged further behind her. Chris did the same to his side. And Georgi along the mirror. Their goal was to get all the angles. And as luck would have it, they all had their cell phones in hand, ready to record or take photos. The stage they had for filming allowed for easy 360. So while Yuuri and Mila were doing their thing they’d be getting circled so every angle could be taken advantage of.

That sounded pretty cool actually, he’d never been able to see himself dance in that kind of way before. The not so cool part was the fact Victor was going to now have videos of him on his personal phone. His anxiety screamed at the idea of Victor being able to pick apart the routine, even when he knew Victor was most likely incapable of doing that. Yuuri’s nerves were showing as they started too.

Yuuri was able to do what he needed, but any fluidity and flair he had been working on in the “seduction” department seized up. It was embarrassing to have Victor calling out “again” to him over and over, and hear Chris humming in thought whenever he caught an obvious flub.

He was getting frustrated with himself. Yuuri had this. But every time he interacted with Mila he knew it wasn’t coming across naturally. The sexy parts were getting lost. Even Mila would bite back a small giggle now and then at a face he’d make, or when she would playfully plead over the loud music, “Touch me, Yuuri!” her arm extended out in hopes of catching his fingers during a deep rainbow arch.

Mila called it herself as they allowed Yuuri a small break to get some water. The boys remained seated as Mila tucked her legs under herself and sat upright, eyes focused on Yuuri. “You dance so beautifully,” she started. “But you’re not used to dancing _for someone_ , are you?”

The last thing he wanted to do was agree, especially with everyone's attention on him. He danced for competitions. He danced for rooms of people. He danced for Phichit when either of them wanted photos. The type of dancing Mila was asking about though, he’d never done. Entertaining or somehow seducing a room full of drunks at company parties was one thing. But to do it for one specific person, up close, in private? Never.

Yuuri had, in a way, perfected a manufactured type of sexiness up till now. Cookie cutter and just enough to get him what he needed; a place in competition or a paying gig. Mila saw it right away when he tempted to dance just for her. She twisted her mouth to the side in thought. “You have a crush? Someone you like back home, or a celebrity maybe?” It was rhetoric, he hoped. 

He kissed his teeth as he tried to keep his gaze from wandering over her shoulder to look at Victor. She smiled softly up at him as his line of sight dropped to the floor. “Dance for them, not me. Just, try to picture them instead of me, you’d be surprised how much that helps.” Yuuri nodded, afraid to look anywhere than at her for the moment. “It’s what I do when I have to dance with Georgi!” There was a loud groan from his left as Mila continued. “I pretend I’m dancing with Jason Momoa and I get lost in the dream of him sweeping me off my feet and throwing me over his shoulder-”

“Mila you hate facial hair.” Georgi pained to remind her. “Why do you torture me like this?”

“Because you’re easy.” Mila flashed a teasing glance at him then gave a much friendly look back to Yuuri. “That’s all you need to do. Forget it’s me, picture your crush and dance for them. Ok?”

Yuuri took a deep breath and exhaled, “Ok.”

Right. As if it would be that easy with said crush sitting a few feet away from him.

The men were strangely silent sans Georgi’s comment. And Yuuri was too worried about losing his focus to take the chance to look. Yuuri wiped down the pole quickly then he and Mila reset their positions. Dance as if Victor were the one he was seducing huh?

His arms moved of their own accord, removing his glasses and carefully sliding them back to his water and towel near the mirror. The music started again thanks to Sara. Yuuri let his muscle memory take him through the technical aspects of the routine while trying to let his feelings for Victor drive the idea of seduction.

\----

He was ready to pack it in as he pulled on his joggers and shirt. Exhausted, hungry and in desperate need of a shower and a quiet room. Fate seemed to have other plans as Victor and Mila asked him back up to the mirrors at the front of the room. “I know you’re probably more than done with today.” Victor joked, pulling a small smile from Yuuri. “So I won’t ask you to participate if you don’t want to.”

Yuuri cocked his head to the side as Mila filled in, “We like to do cool down dances before we all leave. It can be anything really, just something fun. Think of it as a way to shake off any stress from rehearsals so you can start fresh tomorrow.”

“That sounds like fun,” Yuuri agreed. “I mean, yeah I’m pretty beat. But I don’t mind watching.”

“There’s never any pressure to do one,” Victor reassured him. “You can sit, stretch, and watch if that’s all you ever want to do while you’re with us.”

“Ah, thanks.” Yuuri rubbed the back of his neck, too shy to meet the look Victor was giving him as he continued. “One of these nights it would be fun to join though.”

“Great!” Mila clapped. “I’d love to see what else you can do!” She turned her smile from Yuuri to Victor. “Okay if Yuuri is sitting this one out I want to see what you guys have been working on for the new YouTube video, please?” Mila begged, batting her lashes up at him.

Victor laughed, “Mila, you know it’s not finished yet.” Finished or not Mila launched herself into a chorus of ‘please’ as Victor buried his face in his towel and groaned, one of his arms getting tugged on playfully. “Fine, fine.” He gave in to a cheering Mila. “Hey,” Victor pulled the towel from his face and gently kicked a foot out to Chris, who had been sprawled out on the floor near them with his eyes closed. “Get up Pound Cake, Mila wants to see Mi Gente.”

Chris groaned from below, “Georgi has the music.”

Mila dashed off towards the studio door, hunting Georgi down as he’d excused himself to the bathroom a few minutes earlier. Where did she get all this energy from?

Yuuri took a quiet seat against the mirror as Victor helped Chris back to his feet. Moments later Georgi and Mila were back and fishing out his iPod for the music. He watched as they set up, Victor, Chris, and Georgi taking places further back in the studio. Mila took a spot next to Yuuri as Sara offered to hit play for them. “Excited to see?” She bumped a shoulder into Yuuri, grinning over at him.

He smiled back, clutching his water bottle between his thighs as he bent his legs up a little. “Yeah, I uh, I’ve practiced off of their videos for years now.”

“That’s amazing,” her grin grew wider. “You should think about showing Victor one that you’ve learned. It always makes him so happy to see other dancers using his videos to learn routines.”

The thought sounded so ludicrous to his delirious mind he couldn’t form a reply to her. Even if he somehow found the time to pick a favorite to show him, when could he with their schedule? And to boot, there was no way he’d have the guts to show Victor.

He repeated to himself that there was no way as Victor gave Sara the okay to start the music. The familiar first few beats of the extremely popular Latin remix filled the studio. What started off with a few slower walking moves, the attention on their arm movements, quickly exploded into something full-bodied as the first verse opened up.

A hip-hop fusion that pulled in elements of trendy dances from different countries. He was sure he missed most of them. Somewhere around the Bollywood combination, in the beginning, Yuuri was too hypnotized to pick everything out.

Sans the parts of the song that called out ‘Freeze!’, during which each of them would strike a different pose, the energy was nonstop. Hips and feet always moving. Drawing the eye to new places, holding it there with something just a little suggestive then slingshotting you towards the next step.  
How was he always so amazing when he put these routines together? Granted that crush he had made him a bit biased, but an average of a million hits per video meant he was doing something right. Besides being easy on the eyes.

Yuuri was glued to Victor as he danced, seemingly all for him. It didn’t matter if Mila and Sara were sitting there right next to him. It didn’t matter that millions of people were going to be watching this soon, studying his every move. Right now Yuuri just wanted to pretend it was all for him. And it really felt that way until a particularly saucy hip gyration and pelvic thrust caused Mila to squeal and grab onto his arm, jostling him back to reality.

He hadn’t realized he’d been staring slack-jawed up till that moment. With Mila now swooning on his shoulder, he was able to look at Victor and see past the physicality of what he was doing. Something he wasn’t really able to do while he’d been working on his own routine earlier. There was this unbelievably clear picture of serenity on his face he hadn’t seen in any video before.

Victor was void of any flashy Hollywood smiles as he focused. No inviting biting of lips as he swung his hips. Zero teasing at the camera with his eyes, or in this case, mirror and small audience. While he was certainly concentrating on what he was doing he didn’t look overly so. Victor looked peaceful and in his element without the showmanship. Like someone who lived to dance would.

Yuuri thanked his lucky stars he’d been sitting for this. Because he started feeling like jelly. Any tension or pain in his body from the day seemed to just melt away as he watched. To say he was left floating in awe of this man's talent would be an understatement.

When it ended he found he’d been staring open-mouthed yet again. Mila rocked into him as Sara squealed and kicked her feet. “How are you all so amazing?!” She gaped, fumbling to hit stop on the remote.

Mila agreed and jumped to her feet alongside her assistant, leaving Yuuri frozen on the floor. The girls flocked to the three men showering them with well-deserved praise. Yuuri was finally trying to get himself moving again, getting hit with the aches from the day when a pair of sneakers stopped in front of him.

A hand reached down and Yuuri stopped in the middle of sliding his feet under him. “Let me help.” Victor offered.

He forced himself to take the extended hand, not only to be polite but save himself the embarrassment of how difficult it was to stand at the moment. “That was incredible, really.” Yuuri felt himself blushing as the compliment came out. They let go of one another.

“Thank you,” Victor smiled. “You did such a fantastic job today, Yuuri. I mean it. I couldn’t be happier with the progress you made.”

That blush spread as Yuuri pushed his glasses up on his nose. “Thanks. I’m going to use tomorrow to just really smooth it out and run through as much as possible.”

“Perfect. I’ll only have about an hour or so tomorrow morning with you until the other dancers show up. I’d love to get you and Mila to work out as much of the routine as possible.” Victor explained.

That made sense. “Of course.” They’d made amazing progress that evening, after Mila’s advice to him. And to really get that sorted sooner rather than later would help him in the long run.

“Oh umm, Yuuri I wanted to ask,” Victor all but murmured in his direction. “Since we really didn’t get much time for dinner thanks to wardrobe, would you maybe want to grab a quick bite? There’s a place next door that’s pretty good.”

He couldn’t get past the initial shock of his eyes widening when there was a loud girlish gasp from behind Victor. Yuuri had been so tunnel visioned on him that he didn’t notice the others approaching. “You’re going out to eat, I want to come! Georgi let’s shower and go, I didn’t get lunch today I’m starving.” Mila rambled as she came up beside Victor. “Let’s all go, my treat.”

No one seemed to be able to protest the idea. Especially not Yuuri, who felt like he had just gotten swept into the undertow of the group's plans. There wasn’t much time to process it, as everyone started shuffling one another towards the showers to get moving, their empty stomachs in control. Yuuri wasn’t prepared. For any of it. And Chris chuckled at the flustered look on Yuuri’s face as he offered to pass him his shampoo and body wash.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed it! I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up, as the next month is insanely busy for me. But you can always come bother me on Tumblr and Twitter. :)


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victor has a lot of thoughts to process and unfortunately even more work to concentrate on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A Victor POV chapter! *o* I'm so sorry this took me forever to publish. I'm really hoping that I can get these chapters done quicker now that BBOI is done. But I do have other side projects and standalone fics I'm working on. Plus a vacation in less than two weeks... so please forgive me if chapter 7 takes a while!! All of your comments and encouragement via social media has really helped me to keep at this. You're all amazing! 
> 
> Aesthetic board for this chapter:  
> 

Victor was used to his daily routine by now. He was used to waking up early and spending hours in a dance studio. Victor was also used to the lifestyle that came with it. Eating healthy, working out in the gym, getting plenty of sleep when he could and drinking more water than he felt necessary. It was the life he chose because he loved dancing and he wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Yes, his schedule was non stop and beyond demanding. Being on a tour, when that happened, was exhausting. Filming or being on set for photo shoots could be especially stressful. Always being ‘on’ for the press and fans drained him mentally more times than he could count. But even with all of that he never questioned his choices, he loved dancing and he wouldn’t trade this life for any other.

He thanked his lucky stars he was able to do what he loved for a living. And it was certainly not a bad living. A beach-side mansion, luxury sports cars, the finest clothing and accessories money could buy, the ability to spoil his precious poodle Makkachin with anything his little heart could ever desire. Victor got to travel the world with his best friends, who he considered family at this point all while leaving a trail of expensive receipts in their wake. It made the long hours in the studio and on stage worth it. He earned that money, he never thought twice about spending it, especially when it came to creating cherished memories with his loved ones.

Victor was grateful for all the opportunities he’d been given. He was able to do things most people only dreamed of and had seen almost every corner of the globe. Whenever Victor would step back and assess his life he felt proud of how far he’d come and how much he’d achieved. The trophies and awards and throngs of dedicated fans Victor garnered were like frosting on the cake for him. They made everything so much sweeter.

Not that he was able to eat cake very often.

His personal nutritionist saw to it that his taste buds wouldn’t recognize cake if it bit him on his perfectly toned ass. Of course his life wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Among a laundry list of other things he never got to partake in; fried chicken, bagels and cream cheese, soda, trashy romance novels or movies, those curry beef puffs from Chinatown one of his dancers got him hooked on once, pizza, anything that involved potatoes, most alcohols. The list went on for miles, these were just a few he took personal offense to.

There were some other things in his life he’d accidentally added to the list over the years. Like for example; romance. It was never anything he actively sought out. Unless it was in books or on his TV. Then he was hooked. Victor would become a distracted, glassy-eyed, romance pining zombie during every novel he read. To the point where he almost fucked up a huge number for Mila on her second tour during a dress rehearsal. He didn’t injure himself as badly as everyone feared, just a sprained ankle that had him sitting out for a little while. This was what caused both Yakov and his personal trainer to forbid him from bringing his novels on tour. A rule Chris and Georgi hated to help keep because they loved getting the books when Victor was done with them.

Admittedly Victor knew if he swooned and daydreamed that hard over written romance, he would be a mess over it in real life. It was better to keep his mind focused on work and as the years passed the idea of being in love became something he shrugged off.

Not like his packed schedule left much time for it anyway. One night stands and short lived flings only came along once in a blue moon as they weren’t something he particularly enjoyed, being the romantic that he was.

Letting out a soft sigh as Victor watched the pole run through for the second time that morning made him realized something was off. Maybe it was because he was finally catching up on sleep after the horror show that was last minute dancer auditions. They’d been so rushed to get the rest of the video sorted, pressed for time because of other upcoming work right after that they had all forgotten to hire the key dancer. To make matters worse every pole dancer they’d looked at fell short of what he knew Yakov and the others needed. Sleepless nights spent calling studios and agencies. Long days hating the fact he had no choice but to say no to every dancer they auditioned or thanking a studio for their time spent showing Victor their top students just so he could leave empty-handed. He’d rather be in his own studio choreographing the routine himself. But Victor was stuck because he didn’t know pole and there was zero time to learn it.

Victor thought he’d just been riding the wave of relaxation his body felt from finally finding a truly amazing dancer. Yuuri Katsuki was perfect. The answer to all their prayers and the reason why Victor didn’t spend his third sleepless night in a row fighting back tears while rejecting every online submission he’d gotten.

He thought that lull in his stress was what caused him to take the initiative to call Yuuri out to lunch to go over contracts. Victor wanted to get to know Yuuri, the savior he had to thank for keeping him from having a nervous breakdown.

Yuuri.

Even his name was relaxing to say out loud. Everytime he spoke it during lunch he felt the weight on his shoulders ease. That renewed lightness in his posture made him feel high. Suddenly any work he needed to do involving his new dancer became something he looked forward to. Victor repeated ‘thank you’ under his breath as he was able to push all the other auditions and their cards into the trash. He was ready to do anything to make Yuuri’s job easier and his time here enjoyable because: ‘thank you for saving my sanity’.

So it was easy to ask him out to dinner after the first day in the studio, show him a good time, treat him to a warm meal. Though he couldn’t understand why he felt so imposed on when Mila, Chris and Georgi all barged in on his plans. It was still an enjoyable meal and Yuuri’s tension at being sandwiched between the all too excitable Mila and super flirtatious Chris melted away by the time their entrees came. Victor was happy to see Yuuri smile and even joke with them a little. Thank god, Yuuri was getting along with everyone.

Victor didn’t think twice when he felt himself smiling against his pillow that night, Makkachin laid out beside him as he hugged his dog close. He was happy. A huge crisis had been averted and everything was going smooth.

But something dawned on him this morning while watching Yuuri. It kept his gaze locked on his dancer and not just because he was still in awe of how easy Yuuri made pole dancing look. This fluttering in his chest wasn’t just the high he felt from everything falling into place work wise. Victor knew he couldn’t help but smile when he looked at Yuuri and until now he didn’t realize that he’d been shrugging off the feeling since his audition, trying to pass it off as anything else.

Victor was crushing on Yuuri.

The realization left him uncharacteristically quiet for a little while. Which was fine, except that there was a question being directed at him by Chris. All eyes on Victor, he swallowed and tapped a finger on the side of his phone that had lowered into his lap during the course of trying to record Yuuri’s recent run through.

“-Victor? Thoughts?” Chris repeated. The words finally breaking through to Victor.

“Hmm,” Victor stalled. He had a lot of thoughts and his guess was that none of them pertained to the current situation. “It’s improved.” Victor started and the others nodded in agreement before pausing again in expectation of more. What Victor wanted to tell Yuuri was that his performance had become so captivating that it conjured up unprofessional images of his dancer. That should he ever be asked to stand in for Mila during rehearsals he would do so gladly, no questions asked. Victor bit back the urge to murmur his jealousy towards a steel pole and its blessed existence to be held so firmly and closely by Yuuri, instead opting for what was hopefully a far more professional response. “But it’s not quite there yet. The act still feels too friendly. Push it further, Yuuri. Really treat it as if seducing and giving Mila the night of her life is burning through every inch of your being. Get filthy, go beyond suggestive so you leave no doubt in the audience's mind about what is going to happen between you two.”

Victor inhaled slowly as he realized how fast his heart was beating, saying a silent prayer in hopes that his face only felt hot and he wasn’t actually blushing. Everyone remained still, blinking at him curiously as Georgi coughed, “Damn. What did I do to deserve this Victor?”

\----

The hour Victor had with Yuuri, Mila, Chris and Georgi flew by. Before Victor knew it his other dancers were showing up and his attention had to be elsewhere. He would have liked to think that because they got a later call time they would have shown up rather perky and raring to go. Their routines were pretty solid by now. The hard work was done, it was just perfecting those tiny details. Victor should have known better by now, though, and he bit the inside of his cheek as the last few stragglers made their way into the studio dragging heavy feet and clinging to their Starbucks orders.

Victor did a quick once over the large group, which was made far easier by the fact everyone seemed to be the walking dead this morning. All twenty-six dancers counted for. “Alright everyone!” Victor called over the low murmur of the studio. It was time to rally them into warm up and get them started on the group numbers.

With the moment granted to Victor by the shuffling of his dancers, he took a few deep breaths, clearing his mind for the work ahead. Chris hit play on Victor’s favorite warm-up song to use recently, _“Don’t Let Me Down”_ , a not so subtle jab at his troupe to do just that.

At least everyone seemed to wake up after getting their blood pumping. Which made giving the days break down less stressful for Victor. “We’ve got a lot to do over the next two days. Then it’s dress rehearsal on the soundstage.” There was a round of cheering and Victor smiled as he watched Mila get pulled into a hug by Georgi and a few others, the former laying a big kiss on her cheek. “We’re that close everyone. You’ve worked so hard. But I need 100% from you over the next few days. Mila needs 110% from you till they call wrap.” Victor flashed a look over at Yuuri as he leaned against the pole to listen. The glance was for no other reason than it had been too long since the last one. “Let’s start with light stage group one for an hour, then light stage group two for the next hour, and the last hour before the break will be the full team for our overhead. I expect you to be stretching and using the back of the studio to go over anything you know needs work if you’re not up yet. We’ll rinse and repeat after lunch. Twice.”

Victor was happy to see group one get into position right away, getting in a few more personal stretches while the music was queued up. As exhausted as they could get this far into such an intense schedule, Victor’s faith that they would come through was always rewarded. Victor had spent years curating the best team he could. While Mila wasn’t always in need of such a large group there was no doubt that they were all reliable and always came running when the call for them sounded.

They had to be all that and more; fast learners, good at improvising, stamina, stamina, stamina, a willingness to wear and do whatever it took to get the job done and a passion for dance so strong they’d drop everything in their life for the next gig. It was a lot to ask for and Victor knew it.

During the next three hours, Victor pushed his dancers to their limits. There was a routine he almost always followed: dance once with the group to really warm them up, watch the next one for any weak spots then break it down into segments so he could strengthen those areas, and then finish off with one last full run through alongside them. Maybe repeat another full dance just to make sure everything was solid. The broken down segments always took the longest and Victor’s call for perfection had them eating up an hour before he knew it. But Victor’s group was fierce and more times than naught they nailed their moves with the professionalism he’d come to expect of them. Over the course of the morning, Victor found himself wondering if the same could be said of Yuuri. In fact, Victor wondered a lot about Yuuri during those three hours. He was kept busier than he would have liked to be this far into the game but it didn’t stop him from stealing glances at Yuuri or allowing a curious thought to wander through.

Things like; hoping Sara made for good company during his breaks, wishing her brother Michele would stop bothering them and get back to his own dance work, what did Yuuri think of Mila’s song, what other styles of dance was he into, had he ever seen any of Victor’s personal work or just what he did for Mila, when was his last relationship, would Victor even stand a chance at a date with him?

Try as he might, Victor was obviously having trouble keeping complete focus. So once lunch break rolled around he was pretty thankful to let his dancers go running towards catering. Victor hung back in the now empty and quiet studio, taking the moment to call his dog sitter and check-in. He was just closing out the call when Chris and Georgi slid up beside him, offering a fresh cup of coffee. Chris donning another one of his infamous crop tops.

“Thanks,” Victor breathed, happily relieving Chris of the paper cup.

“No worries,” Chris leaned against the wall with Victor as the three of them took a few sips. A moment passed in silence, the murmur of the dancers in the other room refueling and recharging their batteries the only sound humming through the studio when Chris gently cleared his throat. “I hope you don’t mind me asking,” he started. “But you’re doing better with your sleep, right?”

Victor couldn’t help the wide-eyed questioning look he gave Chris, stealing one back to give to Georgi as well. “Yes.” He swallowed and then quickly added. “Why?”

Chris nodded casually, “You just seemed really distracted today, kinda like last week. When, you know, you barely slept four hours a night.”

Georgi hummed in thought at the shocked expression still gracing Victor’s face. “If you need to power nap or something after lunch you know we can handle the crew. We can’t have you burning yourself out this close to call time.”

Victor should have been offended but he knew they meant well. You don’t work so closely for so long without becoming best friends. Though really, what gave? Was he that distracted during the morning run through? Did he look that exhausted still? He could have sworn the amount of sleep he got last night cleared his puffy bags. “Fucking hell you guys do I still look that bad?” He whipped to the side to stare down his reflection in the mirror.

The other two men burst out in laughter at Victor’s reaction to their concern as he pulled on his under eyes a little. “Christ, Victor, you look fine.” Georgi chuckled.

Victor had been spending extra time on his facial routine these last few mornings. He was to save his skin from the lack of sleep he’d been getting. “Yeah, Primadonna, you’re fine, but maybe you’d only be doing hand modeling today if David LaChapelle called.” Chris tched playfully at his friend as Victor scoffed in mock hurt, wrinkling his nose. “For real though, you sure you’re okay? You just seemed a bit out of it this morning is all. You know we worry about you.”

Victor shook his head, “I’m fine.” He looked down at his coffee as he felt a grin spreading across his face. “I’m fine.” For the life of him, he couldn’t keep from smiling and try as he may to hide it behind a sip of coffee he failed hard.

“Oh,” Georgi suddenly gasped a little. “Oh my god, Victor.” Chris and Victor both startled as they looked at Georgi. “Who is it?”

“What?” Victor asked, trying and failing again at pulling his mouth into a flat line.

“Who do you have a crush on? I’d know this pattern anywhere, don’t lie.” Georgi swooned, placing his free hand on his chest. Chris pursed his lips in the shape of an ‘o’ as Georgi bounced a little on the balls of his feet like an excited child. “This is the best part. The pining, the daydreaming. It’s so pure and magical.”

“Holy shit, Georgi,” Chris leaned away as he stared at his friend with a look of concern.

“Guys, it’s not- I mean it’s nothing. I probably just slept a little too hard last night. Feeling groggy.” Besides, Victor wasn’t about to start gushing over a crush he’d only just come to realize he had a few hours ago. Passing it off right now was best.

“Mmm hmmm,” Georgi hummed dreamily, batting his lashes at Victor. “Slept hard, dreaming of Prince Charming, I’m sure. Those old romance novels filling in the gaps for you?”

“Holy shit, Georgi!” Chris repeated with laughter now.

“Seriously, you guys…” Victor could feel himself heat.

Chris’s laughter dulled a little as a few dancers shuffled back into the studio with plates full of food. “Victor, we’re not here to judge. But really, we are.” Chris smiled holding his coffee and free hand up in a gesture for Victor to hear him out. “We’re beyond the days of Yakov yanking your smut away. I can't recall the last relationship you had if any at all.” Chris raised his eyebrows and blinked in shock at the words coming out of his own mouth. “You’re way overdue to stop reading and start living an actual love life. But I swear to god if we go back to having Clumsy Airheaded Victor-”

“It won’t happen,” Victor promised. The last thing he wanted was another sprained ankle, the downtime had driven him stir crazy.

“Good.” Chris patted him firm on the shoulder. “Now go stick your dick in him so we can skip the worst of it and get back to work.”

“Chris!” Georgi frowned deeply, furrowing his brow. “So rough-handed no wonder you can’t get a real date.”

“Ah, ma cherie,” Chris left Victor’s side to press in close to Georgi, draping an arm around his shoulders and causing the dark-haired man to stiffen. “You did not seem to mind those rough hands holding you down for Mila-”

“Anndd, we’re done.” Georgi disentangled Chris from himself with a deep blush and shot a look at Victor. “Just enjoy this time, Victor. Use it to get to know them. But Chris is right,” Georgi stuck his tongue out and winked. “We call dibs on you, for now.”

This conversation was admittedly a lot to process for Victor. Choosing to ignore the mention of their private life behind closed doors, if only for the fact he’d heard about it often enough by now, Victor agreed with both of his friends' requests. Work always had to come first. There was zero room for him to be as thoroughly distracted as he wished to be right now.

Though this did give him an idea. Victor just hoped he wasn’t about to ask too much.

\----

Victor found Yuuri a few minutes later at craft services grabbing a banana and picking through protein drink flavors. That smile crept across his face again as he shuffled around his dancers to make his way over. Yuuri had just changed his mind on one and picking another up as Victor slid up to his side with a cheery “Hi!”

Yuuri startled, knocking a thigh into the folding table that held all the bottled beverages. “H-hi!” The drink in his hand dropped to the plastic table top and both men reached to catch it before it rolled off the edge.

Victor got a hand on it quicker and handed it off to Yuuri with a wink and a brighter smile. _’Ah, smooth! Yes, you can do this Victor, just ask him!”_ Yuuri clutched the bottle and banana to his chest, trying to avoid dropping anything again as Victor stepped in a little closer. “Enjoying lunch?”

The pole dancer nodded slowly, “Yeah, thanks?” Yuuri’s voice shook a little, he must have been pretty tired after the morning work he put in.

That reminded Victor to check in on progress before his big question. “Good, good! How did things go this morning after our run through? You have a really solid routine down already.” Victor beamed with a little of his own pride for finding such an amazing dancer.

Yuuri pushed up his glasses with the hand holding the banana and paused there for a moment as his eyes darted to the side behind Victor. “Ah, yeah. I’m just taking the advice you guys gave me this morning, still trying to work the attitude in the right direction.”

Victor nodded, somehow controlling himself enough to bite back a reply of how lucky the person Yuuri’s using as inspiration must be. “Well I have faith it’ll look beyond perfect in no time.” Yuuri bowed his head a little and said a soft thank you. How amazing was Yuuri? So polite, his well behaved and reserved mannerisms making Victor feel like a bull in a China shop at times. “Actually, I wanted to ask you something.” Victor leaned a hand on the table as he put on a hopeful smile.

“Sure?” Yuuri gave him a curious look as Victor paused, leaning in a little closer.

The table creaked below the added weight he was unknowingly placing on it. Victor was too busy getting drawn into those rich, brown eyes to feel the wobble. Too focused on the question he was asking Yuuri echoing in his own ears to hear the first piece of metal slip out of place. “If you feel you’re in a decent spot with your routine would you want to learn the group dance for the-”

_CRASH_

At least Victor still had his center of gravity over his feet because mid-sentence, with all of his attention on Yuuri, the table under his hand collapsed hard on one side. Sending the bottles of drinks rolling and scattering through the break room catering was set up in. _Whoops!_

The dancers who were still sitting in the room eating or grabbing seconds all fell silent, every set of eyes falling on their fearless leader who stood rigged and side-eyeing the mess he’d created with stoic panic, his heart racing as his mind and body tried to process how to fix this. At least all the drinks had been in plastic bottles and the coffee station was on the other side of the room. Less to clean up.

There was a loud, extremely exaggerated groan of a sigh from the doorway to his right and Victor caught Chris as he pinched the bridge of his nose and walked off mumbling curses under his breath. Most likely heading off to give Georgi and Mila the bad news that Clumsy Airheaded Victor was back. He had to remember to hide his smut collection when he got home or it would be the first thing they came for.

Two of the three catering assistants left behind from setting up scrambled to help a few dancers on the other side of the line of tables to pick up what they could as the other dropped to his knees to fix the table. Victor and the man both exchanged apologies, both trying to take the blame for the legs of the table collapsing. That and picking up the few bottles near him were all Victor could do to try to steel himself back from the verge of utter embarrassment, especially when Yuuri crouched down to help gather some of the drinks himself.

With everything back in order to a point and most of the attention on things other than Victor tearing the place apart, he turned to smile again at Yuuri. “So… as I was saying…”

\----

Even if Victor had knocked over every catering table in that room the embarrassment would have been worth it. Yuuri said yes to taking on two of the big group dances and a special smaller group dance for what Victor called the light tunnel. Which, as he explained, was more like a choreographed walk than anything. Yuuri had admitted to watching them run through it yesterday and really liked the way it looked like a sexy catwalk. The compliment had Victor lighting up inside and out, his smile hard to contain as they readied themselves for the rest of the day.

Victor let Yuuri sit out the first grouping for the front end of the video, allowing him to just take it in and see what he was asking of his dancers. Then plunged him right into the deep of the pool with the second group. Georgi and Chris took over the front of the room both men narrowing their eyes suspiciously as Victor took the back row with Yuuri.

After seeing him around the studio in nothing but tiny pole shorts for two days Victor had a surprising amount of trouble holding back his smile at how well this man pulled off joggers, a shirt and sneakers. Victor was positive Yuuri would look good in anything and he’d certainly kill it during the dress rehearsal. They settled into position at Georgi’s call. 

“Ready?” Victor asked. “Don’t worry if you miss moves right now. We can go at our pace back here. I’ll take you through it.” He quickly reassured Yuuri, watching the other man worry his bottom lip.

Had Victor actually been hesitant about Yuuri’s ability to pick up on the choreography the feeling would have been quickly quashed. Like any newcomer to an already established routine, there were some hiccups, leaving Victor to break down certain moves quietly for him. He secretly loved it. It was as close to a private moment alone they’d had since going over the contracts a few days ago. Exchanging quiet questions for even quieter and physical explanations.

How blessed Victor felt when Yuuri would accidentally reverse a movement and he would have to gently guide him into the proper position. Especially so when Victor got to watch the mimicking of suggestive hip movements and body arches. Yuuri was certainly skilled in his ability to pick things up quickly, so by the time the last run through happened Victor was able to stand back and watch.

The more complicated group dance that followed meant more time needed to be allowed for Yuuri to get the hang of it. This was the part of the video for a bass-drop version of the chorus. And while it wasn’t as long or as packed with movement as the other two group dances were it was far more involved when it came to its intricacies.

Yuuri had to become aware of every inch around him, not just his own body. And he needed to get to the point where he trusted his muscle memory enough to land him where the other dancers needed him. He would be on the outer ring of a multi-band ring of dancers with Mila in the center. So the dancers towards the middle needed to rely on the strength and security of the ones behind them. And the way they would be moving from swaying in one direction to another before suddenly whipping into a new position, dropping and then grinding back up- well, to put it mildly, his dancers hated him when he brought them through it the first few times.

It was a scene that was supposed to be filmed from above with the dancers' upper bodies remaining practically horizontal for the most part, sans any shifting to new positions. Victor, Chris and Georgi had created a web of limbs for supporting the patterns and movements their bodies had to go through in order to best showcase Mila’s word vomit of an image. “I want it to be like a giant orgy! Everyone moving in tune to the bass, grinding and pushing the ones around them into a single dance. Something filthy but beautiful, blossoming together at their peak.” Georgi had even looked at her like she had lobsters crawling out of her ears. But somehow, they’d pulled it off.

Victor was unrelenting on Yuuri the next hour and a half. Yuuri had no choice but to bend with the other dancers when they arched backward, bracing for the weight of the body in front of him who had to follow Yuuri’s curve. “Up, UP, Yuuri!” Victor called over the loud music after him, only a gentle hand on his back as they had to abruptly pull themselves back up and curl forward to drape themselves over the body that had just been on top of theirs. Then back again, but swayed off to the far right. All the while making sure legs and feet moved to their next position for not only support but for aesthetic as well.

“Move your body!” Victor guided Yuuri’s shoulder firmly to angel him properly. “Get that foot under you, trust their hold.” Victor reminded. Yuuri grunted as his right arm was pulled on by the dancer next to him, hand gripping his tricep, his own surely doing the same as they held the position in a deep backbend for that split second.

“Now get up, move!” Victor worried he sounded a bit like a drill sergeant, barking out his expectations as the group moved as one to come forward once more. Victor pushed on Yuuri to bend deeper, hand lingering between his shoulder blades reminding him to stay hunched for the count while the rest of their body swung and grinded into the next move. Every demand he made of Yuuri was met and then some. The playful swirl of Yuuri’s hips from earlier had been completely transformed by the last run through of the ‘flower orgy’.

The neediness and blunt push and pull of grinding bodies that had to be conveyed was there. Because they needed to be. Or the entire thing would fall apart. Yuuri was obviously amazing at dancing on his own. Victor witnessed that ability when Yuuri pole danced and with the ease it took him to learn the end of the video routine. But seeing Yuuri’s ability to adapt to something so aesthetically unique and trying within a group, that took a passion for dance Victor had only been hoping was there until now.

Seeing that talent and drive in Yuuri was enough to put Victor on cloud nine. The added bonus being all the moments Victor got to touch him and guide or help him through a move.

Best two and a half fucking hours of work in his life.

\----

Yuuri thought he’d been exhausted last night. Boy was he wrong. Three new routines on top of his pole one. He’d even stayed a little later than most of the group to go over things some more with Victor. No amount of sleep was going to carry him through tomorrow without continuous intake of coffee and finally having to crack into the energy drinks at catering.

Ah, catering. The small chuckle that escaped him as he hauled his package into his hotel room made him forget how tired he was. Who knew the graceful and dripping with sex appeal Victor Nikiforov was also a bit clumsy and accident prone? It made Victor feel far more human at least. Which really helped for the turn of events that afternoon and evening. Yuuri hadn’t been pushed that hard for a dance since, well, his brain wasn’t working too well at the moment. But that felt kind of nice.

The smile stayed with him as he lazily showered and took himself through his nightly routine. He’d stretched out with Mila during the ritual close out dance, both watching Sara’s twin brother Michele go through a really cool hip hop routine that he and few of the others were working on outside of the studio. Sara and Michele were nice, though a bit much to handle when Michele’s obvious and misplaced jealous towards him would show a bit too much.

Yuuri crawled onto the bed to open the package of fresh clothes, thoughts full of Victor. Despite the ache set deep in his muscles, there was a warmth radiating in his gut that made this entire situation feel unreal. He had to remind himself that this wasn’t a dream. The ghosted feeling from where and how Victor had touched him that night caused him to stall in his actions. He had to remind himself that this wasn’t a dream. Yuuri knew to remain professional in the studio but alone he was allowed to reminisce and sigh over how lucky he was. And luck wasn’t normally a word he’d use to describe himself. 

 

He definitely owed Phichit a huge thank you of some kind, Yuuri thought to himself as he finished tearing open the cardboard box. Phichit deserved a big party or a fancy dinner when he got back to NYC. “Hmm,” he mused as he grabbed the box to turn it upside down and empty its contents onto the duvet. “Maybe I’ll cover his part of the Dominican vacation.”

Any fond thoughts for his roommate vanished the moment his clothes were dumped to the bed. A sealed bottle of lube and box of condoms plopped on top of his gear. “What the....?!” Yuuri tossed the box to the floor as he grabbed them up, flipping over the condom box to see a note taped to it. _Go Get ‘Em Tiger! - Phichit <3_

“What the fuck, _Phichit!!!_ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments, kudos, and sharing the love are always appreciated! I hope you'll come say hello on social media! //heartsheartshearts//  
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/ViktorBunny)  
> [Tumblr](https://lemonyoi.tumblr.com/)


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the last day of rehearsals in the dance studio and Yuuri is realizing he has to take a step out of his comfort zone if he's going to make his time here really count.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not have an aesthetic board for this chapter, sorry! Promise to pick that back up next chapter. Instead I do have a video for you all. I know the dance style mentioned at the end of the chapter might not be well known so I wanted to share it in the end notes. ;D
> 
> Please enjoy!!

The night had grown too late and Yuuri was too exhausted to try calling Phichit to voice his utter mortification at the added gifts. Besides, Yuuri was riding a far too pleasant high to be upset for long. So by the time he woke up the next morning and had to haul ass to the studio he’d only fired off a quick text consisting of _’Got the package, thanks!‘_ before his day had to start.

There were a lot of things Yuuri had to be thankful for yesterday. Another day to work alongside his idol, the opportunity to be directly taught a dance said-idol choreographed, and not just one but three at that. Getting a peek behind the ever mysterious facade that was Victor’s true personality. A lot of secretly taken photos from his lofty perch on the pole. And above all: some new inspiration.

Once Yuuri had loosened up both through Victor’s warm-up session and his own at the pole he was excited to show them where he was at. Mila, Victor, Chris, and Georgi took their positions as Sara cued up the music for him. His heart began to flutter the same way it had when Victor first guided him through a move the other afternoon. The memory of those hands touching him put Yuuri’s mind exactly where it needed to be. Whether it was professional of him or not didn’t matter. No one was a mind reader. And if it honestly helped him get the job done the way he thought it was going to, then he’d allow it

Sara called it and started the music. Yuuri’s thoughts were already filled with his muse. His body recalling the ache and pressure from what Victor called the ‘flower orgy’ dance. Those jerking motions that still somehow remained fluid. So close to the actual deed yet far enough removed that one could still consider it dancing and not pornography.

Yuuri realized what he’d been missing in his pole routine last night as he drifted off to sleep. Victor had unknowingly given him the pieces to complete it. Something more than just a fantasy to go by, a physical connection. It wasn’t much but it was certainly more than what he’d had before. Now, with a whetted appetite and private desire for more, Yuuri was able to truly perform his siren call.

With the muscle memory of his routine firmly in place and his new inspiration to drive him, every movement he made now, from the tips of his fingers down to his toes, was dripping not only with desire but with promise. The desire to get closer and feel more of what he craved. And the promise of what he would do if given the chance. At least, that’s what he hoped showed.

There was always that fear lurking that no matter how much he might think he nailed a routine it might not have translated the way he wanted. Yuuri wrapped up his run through before he could let the thoughts creep in enough to affect his performance. They were silent for a moment, making it difficult to judge their reaction without his glasses on.

“Yuuri!” Mila whined. She began dramatically swooning, rolling onto her side from where she lay. “I’m left parched!”

“Would you like some _water_ , my dear Mila?” Georgi asked in monotone.

Yuuri furrowed his brow as he made his way towards his folded glasses he left near his joggers and phone. Their relationship was a little hard to figure out sometimes. Right now being one of them. “Mmm, Georgi come here and kiss me!” Mila tittered.

“Congratulations, Yuuri,” Chris purred from his spot on the floor. Yuuri slipped his glasses back on and quickly made for his water as Chris let out a deep throaty chuckle. “You’ve made the _team_ blush. I think you’ve got the mood across now.”

There was an obviously stressed emphasis on the word ‘team’ that made Yuuri wince a little. Curiosity got the best of him and he turned to see Chris’s line of site pointed directly at Victor. The blonde curled the corners of his lips, eyes never leaving his friend as Yuuri swallowed a mouthful of water hard at the sight of a pink tint across Victor’s cheeks.

Victor brought his hand up to his mouth and coughed into it, nodding. He was a lot braver than Yuuri, that was for sure, making eye contact and putting on a professional look of approval. Had the tables been turned Yuuri was positive he wouldn’t be able to look Victor in the face. In fact, his gaze wavered down to the wood flooring and he hoped the new angle was enough to hide how heated his own cheeks were feeling. At least he could pass it off as flush from the exertion of his routine.

“Sorry to break up the cuddle fest,” Sara grinned down at Mila and Georgi who were still rolling on the floor together. “But Yakov is on the phone.” Mila sighed and frowned as Sara held the phone out. “It’s about scheduling for next week's photo shoot, he just wanted to make sure the hours the studio came back with check out. I said they did but he wanted to talk to you too.”

Everyone pulled themselves to their feet with Mila and Sara shuffling towards the hallway for some privacy. There was still a good thirty minutes before the rest of the dancers showed up and Victor had made it clear last night that Yuuri would be needed for the full rehearsal today. So he graciously gave Yuuri some downtime. Though that didn’t seem to include any alone time.

Chris and Victor were quick to ask Yuuri if he wanted to stretch out and work on flexibility with them. Georgi was busy running off after Mila and Sara. “Uhm, sure.”

“Don’t want to get too stiff.” Victor grinned, stretching his arms up and behind his head as he and Chris waited for him to pull on his joggers and shirt.

There was a snort from Chris as Yuuri grabbed his sneakers. “I swear you don’t think before you speak,” Chris mumbled under his breath.

Yuuri raised a curious eyebrow, staying quiet as the three of them moved further towards the middle of the studio. Whatever it was about Victor ignored it too, “Work on your split stretches?” He asked Chris, then smiled over at Yuuri, “How about it?”

“Mmm, yeah.” Yuuri frowned at himself the second the other men took the floor. What was wrong with him now? He could barely construct half a jumbled sentence today, to anyone, let alone Victor. Sleep had been decent, muscles weren’t terribly wrecked, coffee was doing its job. Yuuri had felt so relaxed last night, slipping off to dreamland with thoughts of Victor and the time they’d spent yesterday. And he just gave a supposedly stunning run through of his pole routine, getting blushes and approval from everyone.

So what gave? Sometimes he was a mystery even to himself. And sometimes that mystery got him a bit frustrated. Three days. He realized he was still a bit starstruck by Victor. But it had been three days of interacting with him. Three days of getting to know him, working with him- for very long hours too and spending down time with him. Yet he was still barely getting out more than three words to him.

It’s not as if he expected to be best friends with Victor by the end of this. But leaving this job with at least some kind of professional relationship would be stellar. Victor shouldn’t be left relieved or laughing over how the socially-awkward pole dancer was finally gone by the time Yuuri left for home.

Yuuri sat to pull his socks and sneakers on while doing his best to hide his personal gripe with himself as he watched Chris and Victor situate themselves. “So you’re getting enough sleep, Yuuri?” Chris asked, looking over at him as he pulled Victor’s arms towards him. “I know that time change, it’s not much but it’s not too friendly coming out this direction.”

“Yeah,” Yuuri nodded in agreement. _’Wow, yikes Yuuri, you can do better than this…’_ He cleared his throat, eyes flitting from Chris to Victor and back again. “It’s been pretty easy to pass out.”

The other men chuckled. “It’s an intense schedule before a video shoot.” Chris shot a look to Victor, “This one even lives an hour out from downtown, yet here we are, at our normally scheduled 7 AM studio time.”

Yuuri startled a little as they swapped, Victor pulling Chris’s arms towards him and leaning back. “When the hell do you sleep?” Even with his own fairly laid back work schedule, he found some mornings a doozy. Especially when he had late shifts at the pole studio.

Victor shrugged, “I’m used to it at this point.”

Chris made a noise of amusement. “No sleep, no days off, no fun.”

“I’m fun!” Victor protested. His tone was playful but his face dropped completely. Victor was pulled firmly to switch off.

“Sure, sure,” Chris chuckled again.

Yuuri twisted his mouth to the side, being reminded of his and Phichit’s vacation to the Dominican. “When’s the last time you went on vacation?”

Victor let out a small grimace as Chris tugged a little on his arms to push Victor’s legs further apart. “I… actually. I don’t remember?”

Chris yanked him further over, smiling at the opportunity to afford his friend a little discomfort. “It’s been years.” He smiled over at Yuuri. “Our benevolent Drill Sergeant allows time off but does he ever take any for himself?”

“There’s... I have a lot to do… you know.” Victor frowned, bowing his head between his outstretched arms. “Besides,” he shot up and pulled at Chris, jerking him forward. “The last time I left on vacation I came back to you, Georgi and Michele with a far too practiced choreography to “3” by Britney Spears.”

“In our defense,” Chris grinned as Victor pushed his legs wider. “That dance is what gave you the idea to start the YouTube channel.”

Victor sighed in defeat, “Fine. But the next time I give you a company issued card to order outfits for something like that don’t try to sneak in vibrator purchases.”

Chris gasped in mock shock, “Vitya that was a welcome back gift for you!”

“And the other two?”

All Chris did was laugh in reply.

Yuuri blushed and found himself suddenly far too unoccupied as he listened to their conversation a little while longer. When they finished Victor scooted sideways and planted himself in front of Yuuri. “Ready?”

Somehow he’d gotten it into his mind that because Chris needed the work on his split stretches he’d be paired with him to further assist. He was used to helping from being an instructor for so long. This wasn’t the case here and he stalled for an embarrassingly long time in taking Victor’s held out hands. He bit his lip back and hoped that his own weren’t sweating too badly.

The calm smile Victor gave him either meant he was in the clear or that Victor was really good at hiding his disgust. Yuuri shivered gently as Victor loosened his grip and slid his palms down towards Yuuri’s elbows, beginning the light pull to start the stretch. The best course of action now would be to try to distract himself from his nerves. So Yuuri made an attempt at starting as casual a conversation as he could. “Do you guys work on flexibility often?” Yuuri was held in a reasonable starting position by Victor, just like he’d done with Chris.

Working on his own solo stretches beside them, Chris smirked, “Not as often as we should.”

“Once in a while, during any downtime,” Victor added as he gave a small pull on Yuuri’s arms.

“Which is hardly ever.” Chris held the bottoms of his sneakers and reached through his stretch.

Victor shot him some side eye, allowing Yuuri a chance to glance up at his face. He was still a bit unsure of where to grab Victor’s arms and the thought of having to stretch him next made his heart flutter. “To be fair, if I have any of you doing something outside your comfort zone we always work on it one on one.”

“I’m only teasing.” Chris purred playfully. “But again, that rare downtime…” his voice trailed off as Victor scoffed at him.

“I stretch enough at home, or when I’m waiting for you all to drag your asses here.” Victor teased back.

“Well,” Yuuri interjected sheepishly. “Let’s see how you fare then.” He turned his wrists and finally allowed himself to grab around Victor’s toned forearms. Victor’s focus came back to Yuuri at the sudden move. Yuuri leaned back with practiced ease, widening the stretch in Victor’s legs with his feet just a little. The contrast of how soft Victor’s skin was to the firm muscle underneath had Yuuri biting his tongue. Mind racing to stay occupied with something else, his eyes wandered over the top of his head. As he would with his students he took a look at his back and hips. Victor could go deeper, “Breathe.” Yuuri instructed.

Victor let out his held breath and allowed Yuuri another small push at his ankles. “How often do you keep up on stretching?” Victor asked, peeking up at Yuuri as best he could from his current position. “I mean, you pole dance almost every day back home right? You’ve got to already be pretty loose on a normal basis?”

Yuuri couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at the weird questions. From one professional to another, Victor should know the answer to that. “Everyday. Flexibility is hard to earn. Easy to lose.”

Victor hummed. “True.” He rolled forward a little in an attempt to stretch further. “I used to be more on top of it when I was younger. Can’t do splits like I used to anymore.”

The honesty was endearing. And just another reminder that Victor wasn’t as perfect as Yuuri had always daydreamed him to be. Not that it was a negative thing. If Victor had been perfect there would have been no chance to stretch with him like this. “You can always get them back.” Yuuri encouraged, feet following Victor’s lead to help push him out, the deep sigh that accompanied it curled around the base of his spine. Yuuri mimicked it, tipping his chin towards the ceiling. The last thing Yuuri needed was to get aroused with Victor’s face practically in his crotch.

“You’re really flexible though,” Victor all but murmured, fingers twitching against Yuuri’s arms. “Some of those moves you do, it’s just, wow!”

The compliment brought a bit of heat to Yuuri’s face, his hold on Victor loosening. “It’s just practice,” Yuuri admitted meekly.

They traded positions and Yuuri hid his face in his arm for fear of any blush showing as he leaned over much deeper than before. Victor rushed to keep up, pushing his feet out to Yuuri’s ankles only to find he missed them by a few inches. A quick adjustment and he leaned back further to help Yuuri stretch properly. “Still, I don’t think I was ever that flexible, even at my most.”

Yuuri closed his eyes. The heat focusing on his cheeks seemed to blossom further as the warmth from being so close to Victor this way started to really hit him. His cursed flexibility had his line of sight practically flush with Victor’s groin. And the more Victor leaned back the more he was pulled over him. There was too much shyness in him still for Yuuri to move or open his eyes.

A bit of panic unleashed itself through his system and bubbled up and out in the form of, “I’m sure you’re flexible enough when it counts.” He winced at the word vomit he produced and the small chuckle it pulled from Chris who was still sitting next to them.

Victor became quiet above him, leaving Yuuri to flounder at the bold assumption that came out of him. He had a problem with saying innocent enough things that were usually taken by others as the opposite. A problem he could usually laugh off with friends. Now, not so much. “When was the last time it counted for you, Vitya?” Chris’s voice was filled with mirth.

There was a small jerking motion above him as Victor made some kind of motion with his upper body at Chris, still keeping silent. Yuuri panicked a little at the lack of reply from Victor, “I can always help. With the flexibility that is. While I’m here. Set up a routine you can do on your own.”

Chris let out a curious noise and a second later added, “He’s already got a solid solo routine down, for _years_ now. I’d be impressed if you got him to change that.”

The pull on Yuuri’s arms grew firmer right before Victor spoke, “T-thanks, Yuuri.” Then his arms were actually pushed on, asking soundlessly for them to trade off.

Yuuri kept his eyes downcast as he open them, shifting their positions. Only when he was leaned back far enough did he risk a look at Victor, but his face was parallel with the floor, too busy focusing on deepening his stretch. That’s when Yuuri caught the look of absolute amusement on Chris’s face, lips kissed inward like he was biting back a laugh. Yuuri couldn’t help but wonder what the hell that exchange was about earlier.

“Don’t overdo it, especially if you haven’t gone this deep in a while,” Yuuri advised. Victor was really overreaching and his breath seemed to be held again. “Breathe, Victor.”

Chris finally cracked, breaking out into a small burst of laughter as Victor let out a short pained whimper. “But it seems to be getting better? Right?” Victor asked, face still pointed at the floor.

Yuuri furrowed his brow as he stared at the top of Victor’s head, “A little. But I don’t want you to hurt yourself.” He began to sit up, pushing on Victor’s arms to force him out of his stretch. The last thing Yuuri wanted to be responsible for was a pulled hamstring and Victor unable to dance properly a day before filming began.

And when Victor sat up his face was already a little pink with the exertion he’d been making. “How deep can you go?” Victor asked, catching Yuuri’s eye as they slipped closer. His voice was a bit strange suddenly. The opposite of the strain it held just a moment ago.

Yuuri chalked it up to the relief of being taken out of the wide stretch he was in. He swallowed, at the feeling of the warmth from earlier playing around in the pit of his stomach, stirred by the focused eyes he found himself under. “Keep pulling,” Yuuri simply replied.

He reached out with the pull of his arms. If it weren’t for the fact Victor’s crotch was in the way he would have been able to lay himself perfectly flat on the studio floor. “More,” Yuuri advised. Victor leaned till he was laying back, bringing Yuuri’s arms with him as far as he could. Then Yuuri’s stomach hit the floor. He rolled his hips through till the insides of his thighs did the same.

Victor watched with widened eyes and parted lips as Yuuri smoothly and far too easily gave one last roll and slide his legs closed behind him. He arched his back a little giving a small satisfied moan at how good that felt. It was a finish to this stretch he did often because it made for a good floor bit in pole routines. And it always left his muscles with a pleasant warmth radiating through them.

He lay there for a moment, basking in the afterglow it gave him. It wasn’t until Chris and Victor both peeped a ‘wow’ together that he realized his arms were resting hard on Victor’s thighs, the man’s legs still spread wide before him. Yuuri was positive he was blushing now and it was hard to not scramble out from between his legs, lest he give himself away far too much.

\----

Had Yuuri been too forward? Did he show off too much? What the hell was that? Was he flirting? He couldn’t tell. Yuuri had never really flirted with anyone before. So if it did come across as flirting it was probably bad. And he either looked like a try-hard or a dumbass. Neither were good options.

At least for the sake of his pride, he reminded himself often throughout the day that Victor didn’t seem put off any. He was still just as helpful and kind as ever. Which, Yuuri had to admit, helped relax him a little. Had Victor retreated or seemed weirded out Yuuri was sure he would have never lived it down. And running out of the studio was also not an option. He needed to be professional.

Unfortunately, that didn’t mean his anxiety got with the program completely. It took him the rest of the afternoon to recover from the stretching incident. Yuuri had reverted back to barely being able to say more than two words to Victor, too flustered with himself to force it.

In order to keep himself focused Yuuri poured all his concentration back into his dancing and that made all the difference. Dancing always helped ease his anxieties and worries. If anything outside of the studio frustrated him it just made him work harder. And he was pushing himself today. It was his last day to really commit the routines to memory before dress rehearsal tomorrow anyway.

Victor being back at the front of the room or in position near Mila again helped him be able to breathe too. Any time Victor did talk to him during rehearsals it was for the same reasons he would to any of the other dancers which meant there was no reason for him to awkwardly reply. This he could deal with. It gave him time to reset.

As the day went on and the moves became more and more natural his confidence returned to him. Dancing was one of the few things that helped him like this and Yuuri was glad for it.

Evening finally arrived. Yuuri sat slumped against the mirror near Georgi, letting the stress of the day slowly roll off his back as he checked the time on his phone. The occurrences of the morning seemed days away by now. “You’re looking really good out there.” Georgi nudged him gently.

Yuuri gave him a small smile, “Thanks. It’s been a nice challenge, you all do such an amazing job choreographing.”

Georgi’s grin widened, “You should tell Victor that.”

Yuuri wrinkled his brows at the other man, “He, he’s got to know that already.”

“Mmm,” Georgi licked his lips nonchalantly. “Victor can be very forgetful.”

The rest of the dance crew busied themselves with cool down stretches or doing similar to Yuuri and Georgi, plopping on the floor with their phones. Yuuri distracted himself with small talk with the other dancer but found no amount of conversation able to keep himself from glancing over Georgi’s shoulder towards the iPod dock where Victor, Chris, and Mila were huddled.

There was no way to discern what they might have been talking about, regardless Yuuri was drawn back again and again. Mila and Chris seemed to be agreeing with him over whatever was being discussed.

Yuuri contemplated the glassy-eyed, determined expression on Victor’s face as he was pulled back into the conversation with Georgi, “How have you been feeling after the rehearsals?”

“Oh, alright really.” Yuuri shrugged.

“It’s a tough schedule. Are you staying later to go over the pole routine any more?” It was sweet of Georgi to express concern for him and Yuuri smiled at the sentiment.

“I might do one run through alone before calling it a night.” Though there wasn’t much need for it.

Georgi nodded and smiled back, “I’m still so impressed when I watch you, we all are!” Yuuri raised his eyebrows as Georgi continued. “Victor was saying the other night how he wants to try a few classes after this all done.”

“R-really?” Yuuri asked in disbelief.

“Mmm,” Georgi nodded and ran a hand through his hair, fluffing the longer strands in the front a bit. “Too bad you don’t live closer, you could have taught him some moves. I’m sure he would have loved that.”

Teach Victor pole dancing? The idea left Yuuri a bit speechless. Though the thought of it sounded appealing. Victor pole dancing would be something he’d love to see.

“Ah, speak of the devil,” Georgi grinned.

A familiar set of sneakers stopped in front of them and Victor tched, ignoring Georgi’s comment as Yuuri looked up. “Random question, Yuuri,” Victor asked. Yuuri nodded cautiously for him to continue. “Are you at all familiar with Kizomba?”

The name had Yuuri’s eyebrows shooting up under his fringe. He was familiar with it. In fact, he’d taken a bunch of classes to expand on his repertoire recently. New York City had a plethora of dance styles offered in so many studios so he signed up for them just for fun, out of boredom really. Because when the hell was he ever going to need to know Kizomba? He was fairly sure he didn’t even have it listed on his calling card, though his chances of remembering right now were shot. “Ummm, a little, yes?” He was afraid to answer further, his brain too fried from the day's events and conversations to process why Victor would ask about such a thing.

There was a wide smile that spread across Victor’s face as he tapped a finger to his lower lip, “Oh, good!” Good? “Would you want to do the closeout dance with me then? No one else knows the style well enough and I’ve been dying to practice it lately.” His eyes glowed with an almost childlike hope. Twenty-something professional dancers here and he had no one else to practice with?

Yuuri side-eyed Georgi, who was busy shooting his boss a curious look. Chris and Mila were too far to search for. And now he must have taken too long to reply because Victor practically started begging a moment later, “Please, Yuuri? Last chance to do one, it'll be fun! What do you say?”

He was stuck for it, not wanting to turn Victor down when he looked so excited over a dance. But he wasn’t about to let on how advanced he was. The beginner moves were far less embarrassing. He’d keep it at that level to be safe. “I-I only know a little,” he repeated, hoping that was enough.

Victor nodded, “That’s fine!” His delight took over and he held out a hand to help Yuuri to his feet as Georgi offered to hold Yuuri’s phone. Yuuri followed Victor, weaving between the other dancers who lingered about.

It wasn’t until Victor had to make the closing dance announcement to clear the area that what was about to happen hit Yuuri. He had just agreed to partner with Victor for one of the sexiest, most intimate dances on the planet? Was he high? Drunk? The butterflies took flight in his stomach as Victor faced him, the shuffling figures of the other dancers becoming blurred images around them. Too late to run, right?

The smile Victor still carried was all the answer he needed. Yuuri had already lamented far too much over how he wished he could have seen him smile after the audition, over how badly he’d dreamed of his dancing making Victor’s face light up. This might be his only chance.

While the butterflies refused to calm down, Yuuri also refused to let them take over. He steeled himself, reminding his nerves that he was in control and he wasn’t going to allow anything to sabotage his moment to dance with his idol.

“Do you want me to lead?” Victor asked and Yuuri nodded, the first few gentle beats of a song chiming through the studio. That smile never left Victor as he held a hand out to Yuuri and guided it in towards his shoulder as they stepped in closer to one another, taking up their position.

Have you ever tried to hold in an involuntary gasp in? Yuuri thought he had. He thought he’d have plenty of practice by now at biting back even small breaths of astonishment, but when it came to Victor he didn’t stand a chance. The reaction to Victor’s hands being placed on his hips after settling Yuuri’s near his neck only drew out a bigger smile from the taller man.

Yuuri barely registered the Spanish singing that began moments later as Victor pressed in closer, holding Yuuri flush against him. Victor led him into a small sway, Yuuri’s legs quickly falling into the rhythm of Victor’s as he started them off with the slow step. “Thank you for dancing with me.”

There was just far too much to take in at once and his brain sputtered when attempting to reply, “S-sure.”

He was dancing with Victor Nikiforov. In typical Kizomba fashion, they were pressed together, his body at Victor’s mercy to move how it was led. His arms were wrapped around Victor’s neck and what was more, Victor’s hands were around his waist securing the fact that this was it. There was no ducking out of this no matter how much his entire body screamed with a surge of mixed emotions.

He had to tear his eyes away from Victor’s lips but the combination of meeting Victor’s own gaze next and the leg between his own brushing against him in very private areas as they swayed put him in critical meltdown. The only thing more jarring than that was the fact that his own thigh was in a similar position. Before his brain was able to decide which thing to break over Victor pushed and began leading him into a backward step before rotating him.

Yuuri swore the only thing keeping him from tripping over Victor’s feet was muscle memory. It was like an out of body experience. This was him dancing but it didn’t feel like it. His spirit was in the corner of the studio screaming and gasping for air.

Victor kept their steps simple and continued to lead Yuuri around, their bodies remaining close. “You pick up rhythm really fast.” All Yuuri could do in reply was kiss his teeth and look away as Victor pulled on Yuuri’s back to draw him into a reversed rotation. The movement was smooth and, god help him, Yuuri felt overcome with warmth. They were almost too close and regardless of how the effect it had on him decided to show Yuuri wasn’t going to be able to live it down.

There was a quiet hum from Victor and then his leg was gone, hip pushing against Yuuri’s till they were side by side. Then after a basic two-step, Victor hooked a foot under Yuuri’s far foot, they came down, they took another step and Victor’s other knee pressed up behind Yuuri’s before spinning him back into his arms. “You sure you only know a little?” Victor cracked a suspicious smile at him.

How stupid could Yuuri be to let Victor lead him into a slightly more complicated move? At least, not one meant for beginners without some trip-ups or kicking of ankles. Yuuri knitted his brows. “Luck?”

Victor smirked at him, narrowing his eyes as he nudged Yuuri’s legs into a deep step before squaring him off to start another rotation. Their hips swayed together, “Beginners luck?”

“Maybe?” Yuuri caught Victor’s eyes again. He almost wished they weren’t dancing. Because this was the longest chance he’d had to gaze into those unreal blue eyes. So still. Fixed. The only thing breaking the peaceful moment was Victor drawing back, his hand catching Yuuri’s elbow and tracing the length of his arm to guide him into a twirl.

“I don’t mean to call you a liar, but I somehow doubt that,” Victor teased as their fronts came together once more. They continued with the same steps from before, bodies loosening more which only deepened their sways and bending of the knees.

None of this was helping the warmth Yuuri felt. He was pretty sure he was blushing by now and the amused hum Victor gave him said how noticeable it must have been. “Well then, your other Kizomba partners just must have been that bad.”

Victor chuckled, smiling at Yuuri and guiding with his hip till they were side by side. This time they faced in the same direction, pressed together. Victor nudged Yuuri’s leg up alongside his, and then pulled Yuuri into him to step into another backward rotation. “I’ll admit, they certainly left something to be desired.” Victor’s voice was as low as the hands on his back, holding Yuuri firmly as he guided him to reverse their steps.

Yuuri’s ears were burning. He wished Victor wouldn’t talk like that because it was having the strange effect of Yuuri wanting to act on it. His eyes traced Victor’s lips as thoughts bubbled up about if they would feel as nice pressed against Yuuri as the rest of his body did. He found himself biting back the urge and his lower lip. And as risque as their positions and movements were, growing more so with each swing of the hips and press of the thigh, Yuuri started to relax into it enough to allow himself some time to enjoy the moment.

...Maybe a little too much because his lips were loosening in tandem. “Hmm, I hope I don’t disappoint then.”

As if a switch had been flipped in Yuuri, he let Victor guide him into another twirl under an arm. But instead of allowing Victor to drape Yuuri’s hand back over his shoulder Yuuri laced their fingers and pulled him back in by the waist with his other hand. Yuuri led Victor through the first few steps with a playful smile.

The role reversal had been so sudden and unexpected that Victor let him have it, flashing back a smile of his own as Yuuri rolled his hips. “You’re full of beginner’s luck it seems.”

Yuuri pushed Victor to continue the familiar steps, “How about that?” He spoke quietly with mocked astonishment, thankful for how loudly the music was playing in the studio. Victor allowed Yuuri to lead him through more of the dance, repeating steps from earlier.

With the lead in Yuuri’s hands, it became easier to shake off the warmth that threatened him. He wrangled it back from the base of his spine and used it to fuel the way he moved his hips, silently trying to prove himself the filthy liar that he was. Yuuri was hypnotized by how Victor followed so perfectly with every step, every bend of the knee and sway of the hips. Almost like Victor was encouraging him, egging Yuuri on with his own roll of the hips. _’Show me what you got.’_

Yuuri swore he heard the words he was thinking, but it couldn’t have been real. Not with how the loud music and blood were rushing in his ears. He played it off as his imagination trying to creep into the moment. His was certainly strong enough.

He pulled back a little so as to ready them both for the next move. Yuuri was short enough that spinning Victor would be too awkward. So instead he opened them up to face in the same direction, keeping Victor’s arm across his shoulders and spun them both with an easy side step before curling back into him and twirled himself twice under Victor’s arm.

Settling back against Victor’s chest began to feel almost normal. The pressure of their legs against one another started to seem natural. And the warmth of Victor’s hand pressed to the back of Yuuri’s neck, the way his thumb brushed the side of his own as their fingers re-laced was becoming comforting. His eyes were drawn to Victor’s and once more the moment became too much for Yuuri to process.

He let his hips sway and guide them into a deep roll and just before he could do anything else to further embarrass himself that evening he was saved by a literal deus ex machina when the song faded out. The Latin music was promptly replaced by the other dancers in the room losing their shit over what he hoped was because of a flawless example of Kizomba.

Immediately, Yuuri’s spine stiffened and he retreated a step back from Victor, hands still holding onto one another. How quickly they seemed to go from sensual, seductive dancing to awkward teen prom, though it took a moment for Yuuri to process what he’d just done. He abruptly released Victor and backed up half a step further. “I’m umm,” he scratched the back of his head, not sure what to say, searching the floor and their sneakers as if they had the answer. “S-sorry.”

“That was- wow!”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to take the lead like that.” Yuuri cut off Victor. How could he do that? Victor was sweet and asked him to dance and Yuuri got incredibly selfish by trying to show off. The blush he felt was undeniable. He must have been fire engine red right now.

“Don’t be,” Victor started. “You just surprised me is all.”

Yuuri chanced a glance up at Victor, his face soft and glowing. He swallowed hard. Fuck, he was hopeless when it came to this man. Victor could have been put off by Yuuri’s actions, he should have been, yet he didn’t seem to be. “What would you have done if I sucked?” The blunt question came tumbling out of Yuuri’s mouth before he could catch it.

At least Victor found it amusing, his smile growing with light laughter till it reached his eyes, “I knew you wouldn’t,” Victor spoke quietly. “I kind of… found your Instagram last night.” He winked, paralyzing Yuuri in the process. “You’re really good at leading.”

Yuuri stood in shock as they became surrounded by everyone singing praises and wonderment over the impromptu dance they’d just put on. He could only nod and force a smile, his brain too occupied with figuring out what he could have posted lately that ---

\--- wow was Yuuri’s memory shit when it came to his social media use.

Just a few weeks back he posted a Kizomba video of him and a fellow classmate. They’d been messing around at the end of class, practicing some new steps when another dancer offered to record it. He liked it enough to post it.

So not only did Victor pull out his headshot card again to find his social media handle, but he went to Instagram, found an obscure dance Yuuri knew that Victor also knew and then asked him to dance?

Yuuri felt his eyebrow twitch involuntarily at the nervousness that swept over him. He’d never hated the fact he liked keeping his notifications turned off more than he did now. Because what if… “Georgi?” Yuuri turned his attention away from Victor who’d been pulled into a conversation with a few of his dancers.

“That was amazing!” Georgi was right behind him, already holding out Yuuri’s phone as if to read his mind. “I recorded it for you. Figured you might like it. I had no idea you knew Kizomba! Victor’s been bugging us for months to take lessons with him but none of us ever had the time.”

“Oh, um, yeah. Surprise.” Yuuri chuckled nervously as he took his phone back. “Thanks, I appreciate it.”

Georgi gave him a wink.

Yuuri held his breath as he unlocked his phone, thumbed through his apps for Instagram, and tapped it open. He inhaled further as the icon notifications showed at the bottom for one new follower and ninety-nine-plus likes. All from Victor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to give Victor a less "extra AF" like count but [Nikki](https://archiveofourown.org/users/topcatnikki) and [Fraulein_Zupan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fraulein_Zupan) encouraged me to keep him over the top. ;D
> 
> The Kizomba dance and song that I used as inspiration for Victor and Yuuri can be seen here: <https://youtu.be/ubPVdAUePE0>.
> 
> Next chapter I'm turning the heat up and will bump the rating to explicit. ;D FINALLY! //rubs hands together//
> 
> Once again, any kudos and comments are really appreciated!! Come chat with me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/ViktorBunny) and [Tumblr](https://lemonyoi.tumblr.com/)!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First day on the soundstage and everyone is getting done up for the dress rehearsal. The role Yuuri's supposed to play starts to slowly settle in, though it's not just confidence beginning to take over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you might have notice the rating has updated to explicit. So please be mindful. That being said please enjoy Yuuri and Victor gifting one another mild heart attacks. ;D
> 
> Huge thanks to [Zupsgirl1](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fraulein_Zupan/pseuds/Zupsgirl1) for giving this chapter a quick beta! If you're looking for another fun fic featuring some club smut and more pole dancing she [recently published her first fic,](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14595153) go give her some love!   
>  
> 
>  

There were definitely far too many emotions fighting for Yuuri’s attention that morning. So he was thankful that the only person giving him attention was too busy to start any kind of conversation. “Look up.” The makeup artist gave their directions, that was it. Allowing him to zone out to a point, going through routines in his head and focusing on his breathing when he needed to.

Yuuri watched as they work their magic, transforming his features with makeup just enough that he barely recognized himself when they neared completion. The look for all the male dancers, himself included, was a smokey eye, contoured features and nude lips to match skin tone. He’d never worn such heavy makeup before so he found it interesting to see how different he looked. And with his hair pinned out of the way it made him feel a little more powerful like he’d suddenly become this suave seductress, which was supposed to be his role, but seeing the look truly start to manifest really solidified the role he had to play.

The room remained in chaos for hours. Access to the soundstage was still off limits as the crew made sure everything was safe and ready for them. Dancers flitted back and forth between the large green room they were getting ready in and outside for catering while being handed off between makeup, hair, and wardrobe as they worked down the line to get everyone ready. This wasn’t a filming day but it was just as important. Like any good show, it needed a dress rehearsal so everyone involved knew what to expect the day of and hopefully smooth out any wrinkles.

By the time he’d gotten herded over to wardrobe, his hair had already been styled into a neat slick back, a few bobby pins on the sides to keep some longer strands in place. Emil greeted him as he handed off one dancer to an assistant, “Hey Yuuri, good to see you again.” Yuuri nodded and returned the greeting as Emil steered him towards a curtained off area. “We’ve got everything you need for the pole look, and according to Sara you’re scheduled to do the group dance and catwalk as well, correct?” Yuuri nodded as they entered the private area. “Okay,” Emil went through some garment bags hanging on a rolling rack to the side before pulling a rather full one out. “Today is a lot more changes than the actual filming days, but don’t worry, the dancers' looks are fairly simple. So just come back here after each run through and we’ll get you changed out.”

“Sounds good.” Yuuri nodded again as Emil unzipped and began pulling out pieces.

“They want to run through your pole scene first,” The designer continued and handed something off to an assistant that entered the curtained off area behind them. “Change into these first.” Then he handed Yuuri a black dance belt. “I made you some really fun looks for the three dances, I especially love the pole one.” Emil continued rambling about the looks as Yuuri carefully slipped out of his clothes and into the padded thong, thankful that they provided new ones because he hadn’t thought to pack his. “Now we’ve got some time before they probably call you out so I’m just going to fit the harness and then take it off. I don’t want the feathers getting crushed under the robe while you wait.”

“Do you know when that might be?” Yuuri asked, curious to have any kind of timeline for the day.

Emil chuckled. “The schedules almost never stick on dress rehearsals,” he shrugged. “Probably in the next hour though.”

Yuuri was handed a pair of black latex briefs. If they were doing his pole scene in at least another hour he wondered where Victor, Georgi, Chris, and Mila were. He hadn’t seen the four of them all morning. It made sense that Mila might have her private space and stylists to get ready with. But whether or not the others did he assumed they’d have been floating around the green room periodically to check in. He’d also be lying to himself if he wasn’t anxious to see Victor. After last night’s dance and the flood of attention to his Instagram, Yuuri couldn't help but get curious about what led Victor to do what he did.

Whatever the reason it did make Yuuri happy, it seemed to be a step in the right direction of some sort of friendship. The warmth of focusing on that thought made it a little easier to fight away the butterflies as the next forty minutes ticked by. Eventually, an older crew member came looking for him, finding him off to the side stretching in the robe Emil gave him to wear. “Yuuri Katsuki? I’m here to bring you to set for the pole run through.”

Yuuri stood, adjusting the robe around him. “I just need to get the harness from Emil.” He made his way back towards wardrobe with the man following behind him and giving affirmation into his headset that he had Yuuri.

Emil and the assistant from earlier slipped and secured the harness over his shoulders and around his neck with another scurrying last minute to put him in a pair of black patent, calf-high platform boots. “Just to wear out to set, the sneakers are too out of place.” Emil winked, getting the robe carefully back over the feathers while further explaining that the boots were for the group dance and catwalk, he’d still be barefoot for the pole routine.

The crew member hurried Yuuri back towards the green room exit as a makeup artist, hair stylist and wardrobe assistant darted after him. It was weird to have them carefully keeping pace with him as they made sure everything was still set. “We’re here to make sure it’s the look they want for you tomorrow.” The one girl told him as she dabbed some lipstick to his bottom lip.

He wasn’t used to being so fretted over. There was a cloud of hairspray around him, filling the narrow hallway they walked down, all four of them skirting around rouge light stands and people coming and going from other rooms. The heels made him taller than a lot of the other people he passed and it made for a slightly uncomfortable trip, he seemed to be pulling the attention of everyone he went by. Yuuri bit back his bottom lip out of habit and immediately cursed, apologizing to the MUA as they came to a door. She laughed, assuring him it was no problem, “That’s why I’m here. I’ll fix it when we get on set.”

They made their way through and the room opened up to what felt like a cavern. The ugly overhead office lighting from the hallway was swallowed the moment the door swung shut behind them. Yuuri blinked, hoping his eyes would adjust quickly to the almost pitch black that painted the room. This must have been the back of the production stage because as his sight came into focus he could see more crew members working or standing out of the way, small lights dancing about to adjust last minute things. There was a lot back here Yuuri could only identify in layman's terms, wires, soundboards, light stands, rolling cases of who knew what. It was foreign to him yet somehow exciting.

Something about being ushered through the darkness gave the butterflies in his stomach flight once more. The crew member replied to something being spoken into his headset, announcing they were coming out stage left. This was a little like the audition all over again, he knew Victor was going to be out there but he tried hard to explain his nerves away. _’You haven’t seen him all morning, for all you know he’s busy on another stage… or maybe he’s not here yet. This isn’t even a dance he’s part of, why would he be waiting for you to show up?’_

Try as he did to get his nerves to settle it was no use. His mouth went dry as they walked along the side of a make-shift wall, exposed planks of wood lined with people’s coffees, red bulls, and packs of cigarettes ready for breaks. There were a few crew members ahead, two of which clicked on mini flashlights as everyone pointed out a set of steps they had to climb. The break in the wall ahead of them had a soft white glow emitting through it, the entrance to the stage.

He kind of wished he’d stolen someones drink as he passed because he couldn’t feel his tongue anymore. Yuuri was led out into the dim lighting as the man he’d been following confirmed his arrival on set. There were rows of vertical light bars lining the two walls, power set low enough for some crew to easily finish wiping down the polished floor and pole that was raised from the rest of the stage by about a foot on another platform.

Even with these lights on the rest of the sound stage room was inky black and if it weren’t for the hushed gasp to his left he wouldn’t have known anyone else was there. “Well, well,” Chris’s familiar voice pulled his attention towards him. “Look who’s fashionably late.”

Yuuri didn’t register the makeup and hair girls beginning to getting their finishing touches on him and he sure as hell didn’t register the sight of Chris, Mila, Georgi and some crew standing the few feet below him on ground level. Because there was Victor, styled to the point where he would have been almost unrecognizable if Yuuri hadn’t spent years of his life staring at this stunning man.

Victor had been given some serious hair extensions, the new length and volume being used to create two braids curved down the sides of his head as the rest of the hair was teased and swept up into a faux hawk, some of the long pieces that hung down his back and over his shoulder were braided or put into twists. He had on similar makeup to what the other dancers had, though with some extra highlighter and longer winged eyeliner. The intense charcoal surrounding his blue eyes made them stand out like diamonds, which were locked on Yuuri.

He wanted to ignore the outfit Victor was standing there in; the same black latex briefs and heeled boots with a one-armed long sleeved harness that secured with straps across his chest. Everyone else was wrapped up in robes, making it terribly difficult to look away from Victor. Yuuri breathed in deep, trying to steady himself. Victor was dressed like some kind of Mad Max themed fetish club wet dream. He had to snap his gaze and attention to the women pressing in around him to finish his look, hoping to avoid any embarrassment.

The wardrobe assistant carefully stripped him of the robe, taking his glasses for him as the MUA fixed his lipstick. “Do you want me to shine the latex for you? I have your alcohol and dry hands liquid too.”

“That’s okay, I can do it.” Yuuri offered as she slipped the robe down his arms. The last thing he needed was someone else getting close to his privates. She came around front and proffered him the bottle of latex lube, getting a towel and alcohol out of her bag.

Yuuri made quick work on shining the latex briefs, careful to keep the lube away from the very inside of his legs. The winged gauntlets on his forearms had been made with PVC because of his need to use them for the pole routine, but they looked amazing and so much like the latex after being shined that it didn’t matter.

“You look stunning Yuuri!” Mila called up to him as the girls made sure the shoulder feathers on his harness were fluffed and ready.

“T-thanks,” Yuuri squeaked out, coughing immediately to try to hide obvious tremble in his voice.

The MUA and hair girl steadied him as the wardrobe assistant helped get him out of his shoes and then clean his hands off. He swallowed hard, as he took the bottle of liquid chalk from her and they scurried back towards the steps leading off stage.

Yuuri was alone for a moment. Most of the faces past a few feet were hidden in shadows, drowned out by a few large softboxes with the same dim white light like the glow behind him. But he could feel every set of eyes on him. What were only seconds of nothing to distract his own from locking back on Victor felt like hours. His heart was thumping a mile a minute.

“Alright, let’s get the run through for these two done,” Yakov’s gruff voice cut through the moment like a lawnmower. He turned to another headset wearing crew member and continued to give orders, “Make sure the first half of the group dance is ready and get them over to the second stage.”

Everyone around him snapped into action as a middle-aged man approached Yuuri from the stage stairs. He introduced himself as the director and gave Yuuri a quick rundown of how things were going to proceed for this shoot. Yuuri and Mila were going to be filmed by three separate cameras on what looked like extremely over the top rigs, something he would think would be on a movie set. It only reminded him again of how high budget the production was and that the friendly, energetic girl he’d been dancing with for the last three days was world famous, pop princess Mila Babicheva. Yuuri quietly took in the last of the instructions, which were basically if he heard the music cut he was okay to stop and relax. And that if they needed him to re-do anything to just take it back by a few counts.

There was a rather loud _thud_ from the other side of the light wall as they finished. Followed by a low grunt, a bunch of worried, maybe slightly panicked, voices and a rather evil cackle. Yuuri and the director turned to watch flashlight beams frantically dancing their way behind the wall and light up part of the stairwell. People kept asking someone if they were alright but other than that and the laughter there wasn’t much commotion.

Eventually, the group made their way up to the main stage, Victor and Chris trailing behind a bit. The former's face was drawn taught with a concerned expression. Victor looked suspiciously void of emotion.

Mila pranced over to Yuuri ahead of the others. She was barefoot as well, still in her robe and she had an insane amount of hair extensions in, combed over to the side and set in rippling waves down her back. Her makeup was more far more glamorous than anyone else’s and bigger in every way, eyeliner and false lashes practically reaching her hairline “Yuuri!” She wrapped her arms around his torso and gave him a gentle hug. “You excited?”

She pulled a soft smile out of him, “Yeah, I think so.” He responded.

“It’s okay to be nervous too,” Mila read the tense vibe on Yuuri. “I always get a little anxious right before the first set, but then I settle into it! You’re going to do just fine.” Her words of encouragement tugged at the corners of his mouth some more.

The director led them up to the pole, Victor and the others falling into step with them. “We’ve been able to see your studio work thanks to Victor,” he started, bringing the group to stop. “So our cameramen have a good idea already of what to capture. Just dance and we’ll take care of the rest.”

Everyone nodded in agreement as he excused himself to get ready for rolling. “Any last minute wishes?” Chris grinned at Yuuri. “A shot of vodka, maybe a good luck kiss or slap on the ass?”

“Chris!” Mila gasped and giggled as Georgi helped her take off her robe, revealing a gold cage-like body suit over black latex panties and strategically placed pasties. She grabbed the robe from Georgi in her leather clad hands, gold bands around her wrists holding the delicate looking half-gloves in place. Mila threw it playfully at her dancer, getting a hearty chuckle in return.

The ties ended up whipping Victor across the chest, snapping him out a quiet daze. He looked tired, a crooked smile flashing brightly at Yuuri before his focus seemed to go fuzzy again. Yuuri could only imagine how long it took him to go through hair and makeup, no wonder he wasn’t in the same room as the other dances with much simpler looks. “Dance like you have in the studio, focus on Mila, you’ll be amazing.”

“Thanks,” Yuuri smiled up at him, the boots giving him enough extra height to make Yuuri feel tiny next to him. “You, you look incredible.” His own lethargy from sitting around a green room all morning had him doing that word vomit thing again.

But seeing Victor’s face come back to life at the compliment was worth it. “You too.”

It was all either of them could manage before they were being put to work. The softboxes and rows of lights brightened and Yuuri had a quick moment to get the liquid chalk where he needed it, tossing the bottle to Chris’s open hands as they were waved off stage by a crew member.

Yuuri didn’t know what to expect during the time spent on his first onset rehearsal, which probably made it a lot easier. Everything up until the director called it a wrap, for now, had felt routine. When he focused on Mila and his dancing the cameras and lights seemed to fall away. If anything it was frustrating when they called cut to reshoot, breaking his mood. Mila assured him when they really started filming tomorrow it wouldn’t be as fragmented. This was an important scene though and they wanted to make sure it was done right. Because unlike the floor numbers or the flower orgy routine, there was a lot more to take into consideration.

He knew he’d done a good job when Yakov approved as he was getting his harness removed. “You did really well, this was your first time doing something this scale, right?”

Yuuri thanked him and confirmed his experiences as the angry blonde from a few days ago tched from the side. “Beginners luck. But it wasn’t bad.”

“Yura…” Yakov grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’ll see you for the next set Yuuri, keep up the good work.”

The wardrobe girl handed Yuuri his glasses and helped him back into the robe before kneeling down to help with shoes. “Don’t get a big head about it,” Yuri told him, hanging back for a second.

“Why would you think that?” Yuuri asked curiously as one shoe was tied.

Yuri rolled his eyes, jamming his fists into his jacket pockets. “Just because everyone’s congratulating you. It’s easy to let it go to your head. Then you do something stupid and everyone’s attention is still on you but for a dumb reason.” Yuuri raised an eyebrow at the teen as he balanced himself against the woman’s shoulders for the next shoe. “Don’t hurt yourself is all I’m saying, those shoes make for a big fall.”

“Yura! You wanted to see the next set or what?” Yakov called from halfway across the giant room, cutting into the strange conversation. The boy shouted back over his shoulder, waving Yuuri off as he turned to practically stomp after the group.

\----

Everyone seemed far more awake by the time Yuuri was called out for his portion of the group dance and the flower orgy routine. The feather arm cuffs and harness had since been swapped out for fingerless latex gloves and a shrug with armor-like segments down to his biceps. Fitting with the theme to match the other dancers finally. The men were either dressed in similar shrugs and harnesses like he and Victor wore or were sporting avant-garde, cage-like shredded tops like Chris and Georgi, while the women wore various latex lingerie sets in the same style. The whole thing was very post-apocalyptic in a way, while still giving off a very fetishy vibe. How could it not when everyone was basically dancing around in latex underwear.

Including Mila, who was now sporting strappy latex lingerie with a leather cincher, bolero and thigh high boots. “I’ve got as many hair changes as I do wardrobe changes.” She giggled to Georgi before the next set started. He combed his fingers through the red strands cascading down her back. Apparently, they stuck her with one look today to save time, since no one else needed such elaborate changes to their looks.

Yuuri did his best to take in the staggering amount of things going on around him while he waited for the group dance run through to begin. The chances of ever being part of such a big production again weren’t exactly a given, so he often found himself quietly watching when he could. Mila and Georgi were approached by a serious looking dark-haired man and the director he met earlier.

He’d been trying to eavesdrop on the conversation when Chris sauntered up, smiling and knocking their hips together. “How’s day one treating you?” Chris asked as he sipped on an energy drink.

“Good,” Yuuri bobbed his head with a nod before twisting his mouth to the side. “Well, maybe a little overwhelming.”

Chris grinned, “You’re not the only one feeling it.” He joined Yuuri in glancing around the room. “For some of us, it feels like our first time on set.”

Yuuri tilted his head at the other man, “Really? But aren’t you all used to this?”

“To a point,” Chris shrugged before crossing his arms with his drink. “We can still get butterflies though, especially when it comes to new aspects.” He caught Yuuri giving him a questioning side eye and laughed. “The flower orgy dance. Never tried something like it before.”

That made sense to Yuuri, he guessed. “Who’s that?” Yuuri pointed back towards Mila and company.

“Otabek Altin. Mila’s prodigy studio tech and producer. He’s one of the new aspects too, less than a year with us. They signed him to work with her after hearing a lot of his homespun remixes online. He’s young but has an ear for music like you wouldn’t believe.” Chris explained.

“Ah, very cool.” Yuuri couldn’t keep himself from looking out for a certain someone, but he was missing in action once again.

“So what are you looking forward to the most? When all of this is done, I mean.” Chris asked, quickly adding some options when he saw Yuuri raise an eyebrow. “Sleeping in, a strong drink, pizza?”

The given options made Yuuri laugh, “All of the above and add in some katsudon.”

“Katsudon?” It was Chris’s turn to look inquisitive now.

“Pork cutlet over rice, with egg. There’s a place back in New York that makes it _almost_ as well as my mom does. Been craving it lately.” Yuuri sighed longingly when he thought about it. A strong drink, katsudon, and sleeping in sounded like heaven after the last few days he’d been through. Though he wouldn’t trade this job for anything, it had been tough, physically and mentally.

Chris hummed along with him, “That sounds delicious. I hope you get some when you get home.”

Yuuri was about to continue the conversation, Chris was easy to talk to, but there was a bit of commotion from the dancers and crew as Victor appeared on set, Yuri in tow, voice raised as an exasperated Yakov pulled up the rear. “I swear to god Victor!” Yuri’s annoyed tone carrying over the normal murmur of the room. “You fuck up your ankle again over this dumb shit-”

“Yura!” Yakov chided, “Language!”

Victor waved Yuri off as he made a beeline for Mila and the others. “You have nothing to worry about Yura.”

“Yes, I do! You promised me some serious studio time after this shoot. If you’re out for two weeks or months because you can’t focus-”

“Yura!” Mila cooed, pulling the angry teen into a rib breaking hug as they reached the group. “Why don’t you and Beka go oversee the sound for this set? Hmm?” Her smile was forced, a little annoyed but in a kind of loving way. She patted his head, which had him pulling out of her grip immediately.

Yuri and Mila had a quick exchange in Russian before he spat out “Fine. Whatever.” Everyone plastered on smiles as Yuri and Otabek took their leave for a nearby soundboard.

“Ah, something old and familiar,” Chris muttered in amusement. “Yuri’s outbursts on set.”

“Happens often?” Yuuri asked as he watched the director go over some things with Victor, Mila, Yakov, and Georgi.

“Oh my yes.” Chris chuckled and motioned for Yuuri to follow him to the group. “We’ve learned how to soothe the beast though.”

“He said something weird to me earlier. Something about not letting things go to my head and not to hurt myself.” Yuuri shrugged. Whatever Yuri meant by it he wasn’t looking into it much. But hearing him yelling at Victor about something similar made him wonder if getting hurt on set was a problem they dealt with often. Chris’s eyes widened as he shot Yuuri a look. “What? Should I be worried?” Yuuri wrinkled his brow.

“Not at all,” Chris laughed. “Not. At. All.”

“What’s so funny?” Georgi asked as Yuuri and Chris came up beside him. “We’re about to start.”

“Yuri. That kid, so intense. So passionate.” Chris wiped away invisible tears and sipped back more of his drink.

The director excused himself from the group, calling out for everyone to get into position.

“Ah, Yuuri!” Victor clapped his hands together in front of his chest. “You did such an amazing job with the pole run through this morning! I’m sorry I couldn’t stick around for the entire thing. I’ll be there for filming though, I want to see it in all it’s dramatically lit glory!”

“That’s fine, I know you’re busy.” Yuuri rubbed the side of his neck, nervous about where to look. The lack of exposure to Victor today was sadly causing him to take a few steps back in his plan to be more open and talkative with his idol.

“Well, I do apologize still. I hope you weren’t bored this morning or anything. I usually have books with me on set. Hair and makeup can take forever sometimes.” Victor’s voice trailed off a little.

Yuuri’s heart sped up a little at the realization that it seemed like Victor was nervously rambling. It couldn’t be though. Yuuri was imagining it. But telling himself that didn’t help the moment. “It’s okay. You must have been in there for a long time though, I barely recognized you on set.”

“Really?” Victor sounded honestly shocked.

“In a good way!” Yuuri jumped to reassure him, stealing a glance at Victor. “You look really good with long hair.” His nerves unraveled before he could catch the loose ends. “I mean, you look good with short hair too. But with the makeup and everything, you just looked very different. Good. But different.” They continued to unravel, cheeks heating, his brain to mouth function broken in an instant. He wanted to talk more with Victor, just not in a way that made him wish the ground would split open and swallow him whole.

“Vitya!” Yuuri never thought he’d be glad to hear Yakov calling across the set and interrupting a conversation with Victor.

“S-sorry, we gotta…” Victor gestured behind him. He took a step back, going to turn and smacked right into Chris heading in the opposite direction.

Chris breathed in deep, pushing one of Victor’s shoulders to spin him around, “This way for the directionally challenged.”

The frustration of Yuuri’s word vomit compliments to Victor stuck with him for longer than he would have liked. _”Why can’t you just talk to him like a normal person?!”_ He’d scold away in the back of his mind. At least this wasn’t an actual day of filming. He couldn’t believe how fast he’d stuck his foot in his mouth like that. As if Victor’s looks had bewitched him to say whatever came to mind. It had been a blessing at the pole stage that he was too shy to open his mouth much, if this was what was going to happen every time.

It was difficult to get his mind off it with Yakov shouting out Victor’s name during the run through too. Even with his position in the back row, Yuuri could see Victor was terribly off for whatever reason. There were at least five times the director called cut because Victor turned or moved in the opposite direction from the rest of the group. Either smacking into Mila or another dancer.

And while Yuuri couldn’t actually hear it over the music most of the time he was certain he could still make out cursing and grumbling from the sidelines. Not only from Yakov but Yuri too. How were those two not related? Yuuri couldn’t help but worry his lip over what might have been going on. Maybe Victor wasn’t getting the sleep he needed again?

By the time the director called cut the sixth time, Yakov was angrily motioning Victor into the shadows. Whatever the problem had been was gone after the five-minute discussion. Victor was back to his regularly scheduled flawless self. Leaving Yuuri wishing he had a similar switch he could flip to be so perfect.

The rest of that morning went by quickly and without any further hiccups. When lunch break finally came around all that was left for the day were two more sets; the catwalk and testing lighting for Mila’s solo close-ups. It was promising to be a fairly early day and Yuuri was relieved he’d have a chance to maybe stay awake for longer than a shower and shoving food into his mouth.

Though he was left with mix feelings about spending less time with Victor. On one hand, he’d made enough of a fool of himself for the day and wanted to run back to his hotel as fast as possible. On the other, his personal embarrassment be damned. Yuuri wanted to soak up as much time as he could with him.

The green room was empty by the time Yuuri finished pulling his sneakers on, debating if he should try changing, throw the robe on or say to hell with it and follow the lead of the other dancers and just eat half naked. His stomach made the call, rumbling in protest for something to eat, _now!_ So he hurried out to where catering had set up outside.

Unlike at the dance studio, there was room to spread out at the soundstage lot. And there were tables with tents to provide shade. It was crowded with dancers and crew getting food and drink and enjoying the much-needed break in the shade. Yuuri put some grilled zucchini, chicken and rice on a plate, hovered a hand over the display of various snacks that he eventually opted out of, and grabbed a bottle of water and an energy drink under his arm before turning to weave through the packed tables for a seat.

He was ready to take a seat near the outer edge of the tent after spotting an open seat at the end of a bench when someone waving in his direction caught his eye. Yuuri sucked in his breath as he noticed it was Victor, who dropped his arm and motioned excitedly for Yuuri to come sit at his table. His first instinct would have been to pretend he hadn’t seen or to make an excuse to eat inside. But he reminded himself of the promise he’d made to put more effort into creating some kind of relationship with Victor.

The times Yuuri had allowed himself to get to know the choreographer over the last few days helped. Seeing Victor work so hard, learning that he was so much more than Yuuri always imagined, gave him more confidence to do things like joining Victor and his friends for lunch.

No longer did Yuuri feel like he was imposing on their private time. The invitation still gave him a fluttering feeling in his gut, but it wasn’t completely laced with nerves and anxiety like it had been. “Yuuri!” Victor grinned across the table as Yuuri let himself down next to Chris. “What did you get to eat?”

“Oh,” Yuuri frowned down at his plate of vegetables and rice. “Certainly not the pizza and katsudon Chris had me craving earlier.” _”Good, a normal start for once!”_

Victor’s mouth curved downward too, a pout being directed at the last of his mixed vegetables that littered the nearly empty plate, “I’m suddenly very disappointed in my choice of food.” That reminded him he’d explained katsudon to Victor during their lunch to sign contracts.

“Vitya you’ve been eating the same meals since you were like eighteen, you know you could have something fatty once in a while and it wouldn’t kill you?” Mila winked. She was laying back against Georgi’s chest, both of whom were sitting on the bench facing Victor as they nibbled on fruit.

Georgi popped a grape into Mila’s mouth and added, “I don’t remember the last time Victor broke his diet.”

Yuuri started on his food, the conversation of the groups' desire for carbs and sugars continuing as he tried to keep on his own path of healthy eating for the rest of this shoot. Grilled zucchini was definitely not New York City pizza.

“Three years,” Victor sighed, pushing a piece of broccoli across the white catering plate.

“Excuse me, what?” Chris leaned in, cupping a hand around the shell of his ear. “Say that again sweetie? How long has it been since you’ve let yourself enjoy something processed?” He had a playful grin, but even Yuuri could tell there was some seriousness behind the teasing.

“Three years,” Victor whined in misery, slumping his bare shoulders. He’d taken off the one-armed harness for lunch, maybe it was too hot after dancing in it. Yuuri again found it hard to ignore the bare-chested man sitting across from him. Especially when that innocent enough whine sent a spark of electricity down his spine.

“Yes. Three long, insane years. And don’t get me started on all the other things you deny yourself.” Chris stabbed at the broccoli and snatched it for himself. “You’re starving yourself, Vitya, _eat something_.”

“I eat!” Victor protested.

“Not what I mean.” Chris sing-songed back around a mouthful, his smile wavering briefly to something more serious.

The table got quiet for a moment and Yuuri couldn’t help but worry he’d caused some old drama to get stirred up. Whatever it was Victor didn’t seem bothered by it for very long. As the rest of the table started to hold a normal conversation again Victor cleared his throat and leaned in on his elbows. “So, Yuuri, I-I wanted to apologize again. For yesterday.”

 _”Oh God, why?!”_ Yuuri panicked as a hundred reasons flew through his mind. It must have shown on his face too because Victor quickly continued.

“I mean, I’m sorry if the dance was too much. And for going a little overboard with your Instagram.” Victor bowed his head for a moment, fingers toying with his napkin near his hand. “If any of it made you uncomfortable… just know I’d do anything to fix it. You would let me know, right?” He looked over at Yuuri, eyebrows knitted with concern.

And was Victor Nikiforov blushing? Yuuri opened and closed his mouth like a fish. While last night had been shocking and confusing it certainly hadn’t been uncomfortable. In fact, he’d do Kizomba with Victor again in a heartbeat. “I umm… I was a little shocked. But please don’t worry about it I wasn’t uncomfortable.” Yuuri barely eked the words out, but he knew he had to. The last thing he wanted was to make Victor upset or withdraw away from him. They’d seemed to be making progress and Yuuri didn’t want that to be ruined. He’d be a wreck if Victor dropped contact with him when this job was done.

“It’s just that your dancing is very mesmerizing. I knew you were talented at pole but,” Victor paused with a light chuckle, his smile returning, making his blush stand out more. “I couldn’t help myself when I saw all the other styles you practice. You're incredibly talented and like I said last night, I don’t know anyone else who does Kizomba. You’ve got an incredible, hmmm,” he tapped a finger to his bottom lip in thought. “Repertoire.”

Did Victor just say Yuuri’s dancing was mesmerizing? “T-thank you?” His voice cracked at the end. If he’d been confused last night he felt more so now. At the same time, his heart pitter-pattered in his chest from the flattery.

Victor’s smile softened. “I mean it. It’s been a while since I’ve had so much fun dancing with someone.” Yuuri was at a loss of how to reply. He kissed his teeth, trying to keep from melting onto the bench from the heat that was building in him. “How’s being on set for you? Everything good so far? You’re getting used to it?”

Yuuri nodded and swallowed hard, head still reeling from the rest of the conversation. He forced himself to speak, “Slowly, yeah.”

“Well, that’s good,” Victor said, clearing his throat a little and reaching for his drink. “And I’m glad all of Emil’s looks worked out too. He wouldn’t show myself or Mila.”

“Probably because he was working on them till this morning.” Sara sighed from the other side of Chris. “I can’t even tell you how many times I asked him for updates and he said he’d get back to me.” The group sympathetically laughed as she carded her fingers through her long black hair in frustration.

“Well it’s done now, we can rest easy!” Mila smiled across the table at her. “He always pulls through and he made Yuuri look like such a sex bomb!”

Yuuri almost choked on his rice as Mila’s compliment was swiftly followed by a bunch of others from everyone else. Where they all out to kill him? “Excuse me?!” He finally got out, contemplating hiding his face in his hands, he didn’t want to smear his makeup though. His heart wouldn’t be able to take much more of this. Was it too late to run back inside with his food?

“So much so he’s got people tripping up stairs and knocking into people left and right.” Georgi and Mila let sly smiles barely slip, narrowing their eyes straight ahead at Victor, who was stuffing his mouth full of food in an attempt to avoid rehashing his early fumbles. So it was Victor who apparently tripped backstage?

“Well, Yuuri, what do you think of your look?” Chris asked. “If not sex bomb then…?” The sentence trailed off to allow Yuuri to fill in.

Truthfully Yuuri wasn’t sure how to respond. He knew how the look had made him feel earlier in the green room; powerful and alluring. There was no way he could say that in front of Victor though. “It’s interesting. I actually normally don’t wear that much for competitions or typical gigs.”

They all gawked at him for a moment, “You wear _less?_ ” Georgi gestured at Yuuri, in all his near nude glory.

Yuuri tipped his head and couldn’t help but laugh at their strange reaction, “Of course! It’s just what I wear in the studio, shorts or brief cut bottoms. That’s it.” He shrugged. “I mean, they might be different colors or have patterns. But I like my routines to speak for themselves, so I try to avoid anything too showy.”

“Hmmm, I can see that,” Victor agreed. “You want to showcase what you’ve worked so hard for. But to be honest with you I don’t think a flashier outfit would take away from you showing your strength. It comes across clearly no matter what you’ve worn so far, in the studio or here. I think this look enhanced all that. You were so confident during your run through this morning. Even on the monitors, you could feel it, something like...” Victor looked like he was searching for his next word on the table, then his eyes drew up to meet with Yuuri’s. “Eros.”

Yuuri swallowed hard, unbelieving at what he was hearing Victor say. The idea of him being that sexually captivating that Victor would compare him to Eros, the Greek God of sexual attraction, was absurd. It didn’t make any sense. Yuuri wanted it to make sense though, wanted Victor to see him like that. Did he really see him like that? Or was he just being forward with his continued praise that yes, Yuuri was fulfilling the role he was being paid to?

His thoughts caused a small amount of nervous laughter to bubble up. Now he really wished he could hide his face in his hands because the heat he felt on his cheeks and ears was too real and it wasn’t because of the LA afternoon heat. “E-eros huh?” The leftover food on his plate was very interesting at the moment. “I guess I’ve succeeded in conveying the mood for the video then?” He could play this off. Yuuri would just take it at face value for a job well done.

Yuuri could hear the quiet moan that accompanied Victor’s smile, even with the noise of laughter and talkative dancers and crew coming back to life around them. Everyone at their table remained quiet, maybe in anticipation of whoever was going to reply and assure Yuuri he was doing a good job. When someone finally spoke it was low, hidden just under the bustle like it was meant for only him, “Above and beyond the scope of the video.”

\----

Maybe the early wrap at the soundstage was a bad idea. Maybe Yuuri should have asked if he could have stuck around to at least go over his routine two or three more times. Or maybe allowing himself to think the best of Victor’s compliments from the course of the day was where he went wrong. Staring at his almost naked idol for a good part of the day certainly did not help.

He’d held back and distracted himself well enough when it came to work. But now in the safety of his hotel room, his body was surging to make up for it. Yuuri had barely finished undressing for his shower and the thoughts of how Victor looked today already had him standing for attention. Try as he might to will it away while the hot water and soap washed over him, he couldn’t. Every curve of Victor’s muscles, those blue eyes surrounded by such striking makeup, how the long extensions would swing and move with him while he danced all had Yuuri’s member begging for an intimate touch.

One long squeeze around his base with forefinger and thumb, his other fingers cupping his balls, was all he’d allowed during the shower. Room service was coming up with the light dinner he’d ordered as soon as he got in. And the last thing he wanted right now was someone walking in or making him rush.

No. Yuuri was too worked up from the last few days to want to do this in a hurry. He’d been so good about keeping his lust for Victor in check. Shy as he might be around him, Yuuri knew damn well the private thoughts he’d had of Victor, of the things he’d already done to himself while thinking about the way he moved, the way he looked. And now Yuuri had a few tangible memories to go by. These weren’t just passing fantasies anymore, they were real.

Yuuri reminded himself as he waited for his food and while he ate, that he could still be reading too much into it. Victor could have just been really impressed with his abilities, it’s certainly what got him the job in the first place. He could have been really intrigued when finding Yuuri’s Instagram account by all the other styles of dance he knew. What Yuuri started to wonder was flirting could have just been Victor being over complimentary, as he had been since the first day.

But then there was the Kizomba dance. The way Victor held Yuuri so close and eagerly mirrored each roll of his hips. Nature of the dance be damned, Yuuri was lucky he didn’t limp out of the studio while trying to hide a raging hardon.

Remembering it now was almost too much to handle. Yuuri pushed the rolling catering table away from the edge of the bed, his dinner only half finished. He loosened the hotel robe, revealing his stiff cock to the cool air of the room. This wasn’t going away on its own, not any time soon.

Yuuri grabbed the TV remote and turned the volume up a little. It’s not that he had a habit of being loud while masturbating, but better safe than embarrassed if he ever saw his hotel neighbors in the hallway.

Yuuri scooted further onto the bed, his pulse racing with the thought of what he was about to happen. It felt a little dirty and dangerous. Now that he knew Victor better this felt like a taboo thing to do. But Yuuri also wanted and needed the release, wanted it to be about Victor, to thoughts of him. With how much he seemed to be flirting with Yuuri it almost seemed wrong for this not to be about him. He wished Victor knew what it did to Yuuri to hear that kind of praise from someone he’d admired and crushed on for so long. If he did Yuuri wanted to fantasize that he’d be thrilled with the outcome.

He shrugged the robe off as he reached for the bedside table, rummaged through the drawer for a moment before pulling out the still sealed bottle of lube. The plastic was quickly torn away, tossed off the side of the bed and he nestled into the pillows, making sure he was comfortable before warming some of the lube in his hands.

That first slick touch of his sex had him quietly exhaling a held breath, legs already spreading to allow himself easy access. Yuuri fisted himself slowly to the memory of Victor’s hips against his. Victor had been warm and so inviting that Yuuri couldn’t help but want to follow closely. Every flex and curve of muscle that Yuuri had tried to commit to memory at the time came flooding back. He palmed over his balls with his free hand, trying to mimic the press of Victor’s thigh.

His fist slowed gradually to a standstill as he swirled the pad of his thumb over his slit, sweeping up his precum that had already started to collect. Yuuri licked his lips, letting his fist resume a torturously slow pace as his lubed fingers continued their massage below. When thoughts of how they moved together took him over he began to roll his hips up into his hand, a soft moan slipping out. 

A need for more blossomed through his system. Yuuri pushed his head deeper into the pillows, braced himself with his feet and bucked up into his fist and letting his other hand tease along his taint. He repeated the move putting some pressure on his entrance that elicited a louder moan in return. What would it feel like to have Victor’s hands on him like this, he wondered. They’d been soft with him during the Kizomba dance, Yuuri gently traced his length with the fingertips of both hands. Back arching when it caused a ghost of a shiver to run down his spine. How he’d love it if Victor were soft and teasing like this. Taking his time to learn Yuuri’s body and what made him cry out in pleasure.

Those same hands that had been so careful with him while they danced had a rough edge though. And those rough edges while he taught the other video dances to Yuuri are what initially gave him the fire to take his pole routine to where it needed to be. Yuuri palmed down his length, pressing it firmly against his pelvis. He’d have zero qualms if Victor were a bit rougher with him. Giving Yuuri what he wanted fast and hard, taking what he craved for himself even faster.

Yuuri whimpered at the thought, wrapping his hand around his sex, holding back the urge to just pump out his orgasm and be done. But no matter whether Victor gave it slow or fast, Yuuri wanted it deep. As much of Victor as he could manage.

His left hand slid down between his legs again, middle finger pressing against an eager awaiting entrance. Yuuri breathed out as he pushed in. The familiar spasm around the digit taking no time to relax. Thoughts of the dance began tangling with images of how Victor looked today. He’d seen his idol shirtless before in other videos but the real thing had been so much better. Not to mention the way those latex briefs molded to his ass. Not even the tightest work out leggings could have achieved that. Even with the dance belts they'd worn, Yuuri had to fight back more than a couple musings today on how much Victor might be packing.

Yuuri’s hips rolled a little to help his fist and finger along before squeezing himself playfully while curling the finger deep inside, looking for that sweet spot. Yuuri slipped a second finger in, feeling the tight stretch and letting it melt him back onto the mattress in pleasure.

He lay there as he adjusted to the feeling, hand idly stroking his sex. If only Victor knew how crazy he drove Yuuri. His cheeks heated at the thought of Victor knowing how much he filled Yuuri’s mind or how much his body was craving to be filled by him. Yuuri drove his fingers in deeper, hips rolling up to meet his hand. It wasn’t enough, so in went a third digit, a gasp escaping him at the sensation.

When they slid past his prostate another moan filled the room and Yuuri found himself releasing his length to palm over his balls again, the welcome pressure on both of these sensitive areas stirring his hips back into action. Yuuri rode the high as the warmth completely washed over him, soaking deep into every muscle. His hips drove up in search of friction, wanting more. How long could he really drag this out for when he was already so taken by his thoughts of Victor?

His fingers pulsed onto the bundle of nerve endings inside him causing his body to arch into it, his forearm trapping his sex against his pelvis. It was impossible to not imagine Victor holding him close, driving into him, whispering for him to let himself go. Yuuri’s hand slid back up his member and as teasingly slow as he tried to go, twisting his wrist as he went, he was too close to his edge already.

Yuuri felt the familiar tension in his body start to coil and immediately stopped, squeezing around his base as he continued to take himself apart from the inside. This needed to be a deep release or his body wasn’t going to let him survive the next few days around Victor.

So for as long as he could take it, Yuuri gently stoked the fire, adding just enough fuel to it before pulling back. By the time every fiber in him was begging for release he was practically shaking, his sex heavy in his fist. He bit back his lip, finally deciding to pitch himself over the edge of his orgasm. Yuuri barely had to push any firmer against his prostate. He got two, maybe three pumps of his cock in before everything shattered to pieces.

Cum painted his chest and stomach, some as far up as his throat. The guttural groan that came with his orgasm was loud but he could barely hear it as all his senses besides complete, boneless pleasure became muted. Victor could have walked into the room and he’d be none the wiser, he was too satisfied to stroke himself through it.

He lay there letting his senses slowly come back, the buzzing in his ears fading, his eyes blinking into focus at the ceiling. This was what he needed, he knew it. Everything Victor was knowingly and unknowingly doing to him had Yuuri wound too tight before. Now he could feel the strain from it melting away with his release. The real question for the evening was if it would be enough.

As he pulled himself up and into the bathroom to clean up his mess that weird guilt that usually followed him post-masturbation didn’t arrive. Instead, he felt determined, giddy and anxious but in a good way. Yuuri was going to do all he could to make his crush on Victor clear to him. While there was no way he’d probably get the courage to just say it outright, he’d find a way.

Yuuri turned the shower on to rinse off, allowing himself the time to think it over. He knew in his heart that not having more of relationship with Victor when this was over would drive him crazy. Not telling him how he felt would always leave that question of ‘what if’ burning in the back of his mind.

Even now it started in on him. Spinning his earlier thoughts of ‘couldn’t be’ into a bunch of ‘what ifs’. What if Victor had been flirting? What if Victor had been just as flustered as he was after their dance together? What if he was the reason Victor had been out of sorts today? Yuuri could certainly commiserate with that feeling of pining making you a bit lethargic and accident prone. What if Yuuri said _nothing_ and he never found out for sure?

He wouldn’t be able to live with that. But he also knew he was still too shy and anxious around Victor to ever be able to say anything outright. Not about the huge crush he was harboring at least. Yuuri turned the shower head off and grabbed his towel. The only other way he knew how to communicate was through dance. Victor had told him he thought Yuuri’s dancing was mesmerizing. Maybe if he didn’t have the guts to say how he felt with words, he could find it in him to say it with his hips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Probably not the smut you were all hoping for.... //slightly evil cackle// 
> 
> Any kudos, comments etc are always appreciated! You can come chat on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/ViktorBunny) or [Tumblr](https://viktorbunny.tumblr.com/) too. :)


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri's mission to show Victor how he feels has some unexpected results. No one is safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are moving along! Sorry this chapter is kinda late this month. Not sure what might happen next month as I have a lot going on between work and personal life! (conventions and weddings) But I promise to try my best to get something done. This chapter got a really rough edit, so apologies for any glaring mistakes, no beta.
> 
> Here, have an aesthetic board of hair and wardrobe for Mila, Victor, Georgi and Chris for the group and flower orgy dances.  
> 

That morning the entire production crew, Mila, her staff and the dancers were all focused on one thing and one thing only: the group dances. Except for Yuuri. He knew better, he should be concentrated on work, not psyched up to see Victor. But he couldn’t help it. Try as he might to go over the routines in his head during hair and makeup it was instead busy thinking of what to say to Victor. While he stretched and waited his turn for wardrobe he went over scenarios of how Victor might reply or react. As the laces of his platform boots were being tied up he couldn’t help but daydream about being brave enough to make the first move, whatever that might be if the moment presented itself. And he couldn’t calm the butterflies in his stomach as he politely declined the robe offered by Emil. His nerves were keeping him warm enough.

Eventually, the crew called everyone out for the flower orgy scene. Unlike the walk out to the soundstage yesterday his nervousness felt more like excitement. Things were more familiar and the buzz around him from the other dancers helps buffer himself from any negative thoughts. They seemed just as excited as he was, though for a very different reason.

As much as he agreed with their exuberance over beginning filming for what was sure to be another hit from Mila Babicheva, none of them were as concerned with Victor as Yuuri was. Perhaps it was the fact they’d all worked with him before, or maybe none of them harbored a giant fanboy or fangirl crush on him. Honestly though how could that be possible?

Victor was insanely talented and hard working. If his chiseled modelesque looks and playboy vibe didn’t get your heart racing his dancing certainly did. That smolder he wore so well in photo shoots, those casual winks and tilt of the head in selfies, the air of sex that seemed to surround him even during the simplest of dances. It had kept Yuuri hooked for years. Inspired him to work just as hard as his idol at dancing, in the hopes of maybe one day…

Yuuri didn’t need to hope any longer. All those nights spent in studios after classes and using his weekends and holidays to practice had paid off. As much as he’d dreamed about it he always kept himself grounded enough to never expect an opportunity like this. And definitely not one where it seemed like Victor was just as struck by Yuuri’s looks and talent.

With his glasses back in his gym bag in the green room, Yuuri had to follow the pathway the other dancers weaved around equipment as a heads up for what was coming. The soundstage was just as dimly lit as it had been yesterday but nothing could keep Yuuri from picking out that perfectly done up silver faux hawk. It helped that Victor, Mila, and the director were leaned over a monitor, faces illuminated as they probably watched playback from yesterdays rehearsals. The three of them were the only well lit thing in the room at the moment.

Well, there was no time like the present. Stopping now would only let the awkwardness of the moment settle over him, so Yuuri pushed on towards the shining beacon that was Victor. He strut with a purpose, getting Victor’s attention, letting his hips sway just enough that it didn’t look forced but hopefully conveyed the confidence he felt just then. He did feel confident, right?

Just as a thought of panic sprinted through Yuuri’s mind and he considered veering off Victor happened to glance up. It was fleeting as his eyes darted back to the monitor and in that split second, Yuuri felt his heart threaten to drop out of his bottom. The feeling and fear of being looked through or ignored didn’t have time to settle though as Victor’s line of sight quickly shot back up to Yuuri. Not that the rollercoaster of emotions jammed into these five seconds gave his heart any reprise. Yuuri forced himself to walk towards the smile growing across Victor’s face as he stood upright.

Victor hurried around to meet Yuuri and the fact that he actually looked happy to see him only helped close the distance. Yuuri’s heart felt like he’d just run a marathon by the time he stopped in front of Victor and exchanged good mornings. “What’s up?” Victor grinned, “Enjoy your early evening yesterday?”

Yuuri hummed to himself, unable to hold back a coy smile of amusement, “Yeah, got some much needed alone time.” He bit back his lower lip, knowing a blush was probably developing across his cheeks. _’If only you knew…’_

“Oh, oh!” Victor’s face lit up with realization and the blush Yuuri felt suddenly drained from him. There was no way Victor could know! “Your anxiety right? To be honest I wanted to ask you out to dinner last night but figured you needed some downtime. I know this schedule isn’t ideal.”

Yuuri breathed out, feeling the blood slowly return to his brain as he forced a nod of agreement to play everything off. Downtime to get his heart rate and mind level again right now would be nice. But as anxious as all of this made him he was determined to stay on course. Then, what Victor had just said, processed, “Wait, dinner?”

Victor nodded, “Mmm, yeah the rest of us were going out for a bite and I wanted to invite you along but when I went by the green room you had left already.”

Shit. Yuuri had peeled out pretty quick last night. In his defense, the last scene they shot, the catwalk on the light stage, had really done him in. Not so much physically but mentally. The arrangement of them in a ‘V’ shape to allow for height differences as they walked put Victor behind Yuuri. It was enough to leave him freaking out at the thought of Victor having that much access to an unobstructed view of his latex covered ass. What had truly been his demise that evening were the times Victor had missed cues and bumped into Yuuri. The repeated slip-ups were the straw that broke the camel's back and had him running back to his hotel to not only hide but finally release his pent-up frustrations.

“S-sorry!” Yuuri bowed, half in apology half as an excuse to hide the disappointment he knew was contorting his face. If he hadn’t been driven into hiding by his sexual frustration he could have had dinner with Victor again.

“It’s alright,” Victor chuckled lightly. “I’ll just have to try again won’t I?” Yuuri hoped the pound of makeup on his face covered his embarrassment because there was no covering for the knocking of his knees. “Maybe next time I can even get you alone.”

Yuuri had to look at Victor at that point, to assess if the other man was joking or not. He might have a hard time believing anyone could be interested enough to want to pursue him. But that perfectly timed wink was enough to keep Yuuri entertaining the idea. Yuuri curled a corner of his mouth as the director and Yakov started corralling the dancers and crew for the first take. “Maybe you can.”

To see how quickly Victor’s face morphed from playfully smug to shock and awe was priceless. Now the idea of Victor getting an unobstructed view of his ass didn’t seem so frightening. In fact, it felt like the perfect way to end the conversation and dare he hope, leave Victor wanting more?

With his heart still beating a mile a minute and nerves still trembling through his limbs he pulled himself together as best he could and turned to obey the summons onto the soundstage. _”Oh my god Yuuri, what the fuck did you just say?! What the hell did you just do?!”_ Yuuri furrowed his brow in horror at himself, stuck between wanting to scream and cry. It was all he could do to keep up the act of gracefully walking away and not bolting from the state of California altogether.

\----

The positive side to filming something that was supposed to be shot from one angle and one angle only was that there were very few takes needed. It still brought them into a late lunch, with all the breaks they needed to take to review footage. Not to mention the amount of perfection demanded from Yakov that trickled down to the producer and Victor who kept sharp eyes out for even the smallest reason to do a retake.

“Mila, milaya, please,” Victor begged at one point. “Let them pin back or braid one last section. If this lock of hair gets stuck on your lashes or lipstick one more time I’m afraid Yakov will be coming after you with scissors to make sure it doesn’t happen again.” Victor played with the loose strand coming from the bottom of the braid plated down the side of her head. It mimicked Victor’s in a way, only instead of a teased up faux hawk the top of her head was done with multiple exaggerated poufs and meticulous knots.

“Can you tell them to bring some more of that gel?” Georgi chimed in. “I have an aesthetic to keep with this pompadour and I’m afraid all the head movements is messing it up.” He poked a finger in Victor’s side who was attempting to call over a crew member to ask for a hair person to come from the green room.

“I say let it get messy,” Chris purred, carding through his extra defined curls for the video. He’d been letting his hair grow more than usual for the look. “You never mind it in private.”

Georgi shot Chris a look, daring him to say one more word. “I like it when you let your hair go natural, Gosha.” Mila tried to ease the playful tension between the two friends, attempting a distraction with a kiss to Georgi’s tense jawline.

“Yes, _Gosha_ , let the curtains go natural, to match the carpet.” There was a sputtering of choked back laughter from both Chris and Mila, the latter immediately wrapping her arms around a pouty Georgi.

Conversations like these seemed to be typical during reviews. He thought with so many other people around they might have toned it down a little, but it seemed picking on Georgi was a pastime they enjoyed too much. Now Yuuri had to suffer the image of how bushy Georgi’s private parts might be. At least it made the atmosphere of such an overwhelming job a lot easier to deal with.

The boldness from earlier that morning followed Yuuri in small bursts through the rest of the day. Each being met with various reactions from Victor, some tame and some bizarre. For example, there was the ‘casual walk to get more coffee’ during one longer break for review. Garnering Yuuri’s backside a searing gaze from Victor over the monitor he was supposed to be watching. Yakov barked a question at him four times before Victor finally fumbled through a reply. Which failed horribly to answer the question in the end.

Then there was the exodus of dancers for the bathroom at one point that forced a twenty-minute break, during which Yuuri sheepishly timed it to pass Victor in the tight back hallway. While the arm and shoulder bump wasn’t much it was actually unavoidable with the other people passing through. Yuuri had felt giddy at the contact, his smile coming through even when he turned to say sorry. Victor, however, was already stumbling into a half-awake crew member, practically taking both of them down. The situation quickly devolved into who could out apologize the other, the battle of niceties causing the crew member to turn tail and running.

That wasn’t the only bystander casualty either. At lunch, Yuuri had tried to innocently enough ask for a seat next to Victor at their more crowded than usual table. Victor was happy to oblige scooting over for him to take the end seat, already grabbing his plate in hand to take it with him. But somehow in the process of it all ended up just dumping his food onto Chris’s lap. Chris is either made of steel or a saint for taking a steaming plate of veggies and brown rice over his bare legs so casually.

Yuuri wasn’t too sure how his attempts to quietly convey his feelings were going over with all these fumbles. So as soon as Chris was fairly cleaned up with the help of everyone shoving napkins in his direction Yuuri insisted on going to get Victor another plate of food. He grabbed one extra item before heading back to the table.

“What is-”

“Oh! I uh, sorry about the mess?” Yuuri jumped to apologize.

Chris pouted from the other side of Victor, “Then where’s my cookie?”

But his words fell on deaf ears as Yuuri and Victor stared at the fresh plate. Same foods Victor had before but with the added bonus of a soft baked chocolate chip cookie. Yuuri’s way of not only trying to make it up to Victor but after all the discussion of his strict diet yesterday and how Victor needed to lighten up on it, it seemed like a nice thing to do. He might have been wrong though, maybe Victor had a good reason for keeping such a strict diet and Yuuri just made some kind of faux-pas. “You don’t have to eat it if you don’t want to.” Yuuri could feel his ears heating as he waited for some kind of reaction from Victor.

“Yuuuuriii!” The pitch in Victor’s voice, the way he stretched the vowels if this was the last time he ever heard his name spoken out loud he’d be fine with that. And it was made sweeter by the doe-eyed look filled with sincere gratitude that accompanied it. “Thank you, that was so sweet of you!” Victor looked like he was about to burst over the simple gesture, his heart-shaped grin lighting up his face.

“No problem,” Yuuri peeped out sheepishly dropping his gaze back to his own plate. A beaming Victor made it just a little too difficult to hold eye contact.

Just as Yuuri was reaching for his fork Victor nudged him gently with his shoulder, “Split it with me?”

A grade school-like offer to share a cookie during lunch should not make Yuuri’s system go into overdrive. Parts of him felt like they were on fire while others throbbed. He could feel a nervous sweat starting to accompany the rapidly spreading blush. So much for trying to be suave and seductive when something as little as splitting a snack with Victor broke him in inappropriate ways.

“Mmm, sure.” Yuuri nodded. Despite his mind and body trying to pull him in three different directions; which Yuuri garnered to be run away, kiss Victor or implode in on himself to vanish from this plane of existence. Somehow none of these happened. Yuuri had no choice but to resign himself to his new life with liquefied insides and half a cookie.

His new bones of mush did nothing to help him shuffle back to the green room when they finished eating. At least he wasn’t part of the next dance scene and could take the time to reset. He hadn’t realized how much energy it’d taken for him to get through that meal while trying to resemble a normally functioning human being until he wrapped himself up in his robe and promptly passed out on his gym bag.

When he woke from the heavy nap about an hour later his mind was flooded with images and conversations he couldn’t decipher as real or not. On one hand, they felt real because there was nothing fantastical or dream-like to them. Just simple conversations, maybe leaning on the flirtatious side but nothing over the top. On the other, there was no way they could be real because the person he was talking to so fluidly was Victor.

The more he tried to recall the fuzzier it got though. Were those warm smiles they shared pressed closer? Did Yuuri have his hand on Victor’s? He thought they’d been sitting next to one another but maybe they had been dancing.

Yuuri kissed his teeth and sighed out through his nose as he felt around for his glasses he’d folded up before passing out. He sat up and slipped them on, staring across the room to allow some time to fully wake up. His mind drifted, building on the memories of the dream and before he could stop himself they were engaging in a deep, needy kiss. Yuuri whimpered as he found it nearly impossible to think of anything else. It was all hands tangled in hair, lips vying for dominance, tongues playfully urging the other to take what they wanted.

Oh, how he wished.

He pinched himself awake and shook the daydreaming from his head. As nice as it would have been to allow them to take over again Yuuri had a mission to complete. While the events at lunch had sort of blindsided him after what had already been a fairly intense morning the nap made for a fresh restart. He was solid again in both his bones and resolute to keep doing all he could to show Victor his feelings.

When the director finally called for a wrap that evening he’d come to a decision on what move he’d make next. After a quick stop at the soundboard Otabek seemed to never leave and a few questions on some basic controls, Yuuri beelined it for the green room to change.

Once he cleaned off the makeup and gave himself a quick wet wipe bath he changed into his pole shorts and grabbed up his gym bag of belongings. Everyone was so focused on getting out for the night that no one paid him much mind as he went against the crowd and winded his way back through the hallways.

The pole stage was serene. Any bustle of crew remaining longer stayed far on the other side of the studio. Yuuri glanced around in the dimly lit area until he found the light and sound boards Otabek had so kindly shown him how to use. It took him a few attempts to adjust the lighting and volume to what he wanted. Obviously blasting music wouldn’t do but he wasn’t about hiding the fact he was over here either. When the Goldilocks ratio was hit he connected his phone to the audio jack and opened his Spotify playlists, selecting his mix of favorite songs he liked to free flow to in the pole studio.

Yuuri made his way up to the pole as the first song started, grabbing the alcohol spray and towel from the back of the set wall nook it’d been stored in. He had his doubts that this would do anything besides kill time and help him decompress from the day. But he’d count his blessings if that ended up being it.

Free flow was something he loved doing at the studio when he was stressed or feeling down. The sensual music he preferred to do it to also forced him to slow down and think more about fluidity and grace. Not that that wasn’t a huge part of any pole routine he might work on but when he free flowed like this it didn’t call for powerful, flashy moves or speed unless he felt like it.

Sometimes he liked to pretend he was privately dancing for someone special, and he’d be lying through his teeth if anyone asked and he gave any other name than Victor Nikiforov. He gave the pole a quick wipe down, allowing a smile at his musing. It was funny to think of how many times Victor had helped inspire Yuuri in the pole studio and was unknowingly doing the same with his routine for the video.

Yuuri kept the pole static at first, playing with floor moves that helped him stretch out or focus on balance. Similar to his alone time last night this was sorely needed. Not only was it private but it allowed him to empty his mind, to just dance and move with abandon. He took his time, letting the beat of the music set the pace, taking breaks and switching the pole between static and spin as he felt like it. Nothing he did right now was rushed. It couldn’t be, not when he was putting so much hope on Victor taking notice.

Eventually, Yuuri lost himself to the rhythm of the songs playing. The pressure of the last few days lifted with each spin or dip of the hip, leaving him light and loose to flow through his movements. He’d just finished a sequence of spins that gracefully brought him from the top of the pole downwards. His feet had barely touched the floor as he came out of his layback spin when he heard a breathy ‘wow’ from below him.

Yuuri startled in the other man's direction, “Victor.” And though he barely whispered his name it echoed in his own ears as if shouted. His last minute idea to pseudo-siren call Victor into some alone time had worked. Now to follow through with the rest.

With his chin in his hands, Victor leaned over the edge of the raised stage and smiled softly up at Yuuri, “Has anyone ever told you, you look like you’re floating when you dance?”

Yuuri shook his head, “No.” Then grinned, “Unless you’re telling me that I do?”

“Mmm,” Victor rolled his eyes playfully to the studio ceiling in thought, “Yes.” His smile widened as he dropped his hands to the platform floor and pushed himself up. Victor was in a tight fitting v-neck shirt, loose sweats, and sneakers, all black. Like Yuuri, Victor had also cleaned his makeup off and his hair had been meticulously combed out and pulled back into a high ponytail, his fringe that normally fell over his left eye was still locked in place by spray and gel though.

Yuuri must have been staring pretty hard at Victor because the man chuckled and gave the extensions a gentle tug before flipping it over his shoulder as he approached Yuuri. “I know, it’s weird to have long hair again.” Was that a wink? “To be honest I’ll be relieved to have them out in the end. These feel a lot heavier than the real thing.”

“Headaches?” Like Yuuri would know what it felt like to have the weight of twenty inch long extensions tugging on his scalp.

Victor twisted his mouth to the side, “Yeah, I’ll live though. It’s only for a few more days.” He waved it off as he stopped in front of Yuuri with a renewed smile. “You’re staying late tonight.”

_’Wanted to see you.’_ Yuuri thought to himself, clearing his throat as he spun the pole under his hand. “Yeah, just wanted to do some freestyle before heading out.”

Victor nodded with understanding, then bit back his lower lip trying to stave off a wider grin but failing miserably, “Missing our cool down dances?”

Yuuri’s spine stiffened. His heart jumped as his go-to reply of nervously denying and playing things off entered his train of thought. Just as quick as it came Yuuri did all he could to derail it, the corner of his mouth twitching upward in surprise as “Maybe,” slipped out. There was a moment of silence between them as the song changed to a current favorite of his to free flow to; _Love_ by Kendrick Lamar. The song was like a blessing from the shuffle gods and he surprised himself when he pushed off of the floor and into a slow spin around the pole. The song and motion helped to loosen his body and lips. “Dance with me again?”

He’d barely even thought to get his feet back on the floor when Victor timed one of Yuuri’s rotations to meet him. Victor’s arms were raised out to allow one hand to not just slow Yuuri to a stop but urge him back down. The good thing about dancing is when it was done for fun it barely required any thinking on Yuuri’s part. He forced that thought to keep it fun to the front of his mind and without missing a beat Yuuri lowered himself from the pole and platform with Victor’s help, pulling them both into a spin to keep the momentum going.

They stepped closer to one another and started a rhythm. It wasn’t any specific kind of Latin dancing, nor was it as close or as sexy as Kizomba but it certainly wasn’t as boring as a prom-esque slow dance. They just let the music guide their bodies. Lucky for them too, they were both professionals with a wide range to allow for some fun with it. And after that dance with Victor the other night, this more relaxed sway was much easier to handle.

A steady heat started to spread across his cheeks to his ears as they danced. Every nudge of the hip and leg Victor gave to lead him into the next move, each slow rock of their hips, became more intense without losing its ease. Yuuri started moving with purpose after a while and the fact that he wasn’t the only one helped the warmth he felt expand to new areas. “You flow so elegantly.” Victor commented quietly.

A knowing smirk shaped Yuuri’s lips as he side-eyed Victor, still too shy to meet his gaze head-on while being this close. “Well, professional dancer and all.”

Victor chuckled in the back of his throat, “Even the other night when we danced it was the same. You have a knack for picking things up quickly.”

“Do you not dance with a partner often?” Yuuri was honestly curious. Not that he did it often outside classes himself but it was still fun when a knowledgeable partner was around. Victor had far more dancers in his life than Yuuri, which probably meant more opportunities to do something outside his wheelhouse.

“Not really,” Victor led Yuuri into a spin under his arm. “There’s too much focus on with Mila and the YouTube videos.” That also made sense, for good reason but it was still a little sad to hear. Victor worked hard and it showed with the payoff, though downtime was important too.

Yuuri hummed as he was wrapped back into Victor’s embrace, remembering what Georgi told him a few days back, “I practice a lot off of those videos. So thank you.” If Victor was going to work so hard that time for things like this was rare Yuuri wanted to at least let him know he appreciated it. The unedited version could probably have Yuuri gushing about how much he loved learning new routines and moves from Victor’s videos for hours.

Still, it felt good to say even this much. Especially when he caught the look on Victor’s face, tinted pink and lit up with a huge smile. “That means a lot. Thank you, Yuuri.” Victor’s hold around Yuuri’s back grew firmer, warm palm pressed flat, fingertips pushing into his bare flesh.

Yuuri used it as an excuse to move closer until their thighs were brushing together as they went through a few simple steps. He wanted to close the gap so bad, to press himself completely against Victor like they had the last time they danced together but he couldn’t. Those fantasies from the hotel room last night had opened the floodgates already.

He needed a small distraction from his thoughts, somehow dancing wasn’t providing it. That excuse to move closer burned brighter and the need to feel Victor against him proved too much. Yuuri found his moves become more deliberately seductive as the seconds ticked by. Yuuri casually broke their hold on another and to the beat of the chorus stepped back into a smooth spin. He guided himself back towards Victor but barely finished his last turn before the other man stepped into it to meet him.

As if Yuuri’s heart hadn’t been racing enough through this impromptu one on one it thudded against his ribs as the curve in his back was straightened with the force of them practically crashing together. He said a quick prayer that the tiny moan from the shock of it was swallowed by the music. Adrenaline rushed his system, it was the only thing moving his body at this point or keeping him upright as Victor’s hands dipped low on Yuuri’s waist. _”Don’t do it, Yuuri, please don’t…”_

He begged his body to listen, to just dance out of the embrace and bring it back to something that wasn’t about to give him a heart attack but the excitement sparking down his spine had other plans. Yuuri arched his back, rolling his hips up onto Victor. He fought for clarity when he met what felt a lot like a budding erection poking one of his ass cheeks, Yuuri knew he had to pull himself away but the way those fingers clung to his hips had Yuuri’s chin tilting up and mouth dropping open. Before it could manifest he bit back his moan and attempted to tear himself out of Victor’s grip.

Tight as Victor’s hold was he let Yuuri turn out from him. But neither seemed ready to give up the idea of being pressed close. Victor’s hand followed Yuuri’s outstretched arm and caught it by the wrist, both of them quickly entwining fingers before they were pulled together again. Yuuri curled his leg up to Victor’s side, trying to hide his recent moves inside some tango steps. Not that this position was any better than having his ass arched into Victor’s crotch.

His vision tunneled out at Victor as he lowered them down a little, supporting Yuuri’s weight on his thigh before bring them back upright. “Amazing,” Victor whispered, keeping a firm arm around Yuuri’s back.

“Mmmn.” The response came out as more of a moan then he would have liked, but Yuuri was too busy holding himself back from wanting to capture that bottom lip of Victor’s between his. “You too.” He’d blush in embarrassment at his horrible attempt at holding a conversation if he wasn’t already. The blood rushing in his ears was probably the only thing saving him from having it drain south.

Despite the fear of popping a raging hard-on while dancing with Victor he couldn’t help but note privately how good this felt. Even when they returned to less intimate moves, the space between them gradually opening up, Yuuri felt like he was on cloud nine. Victor was such an amazing dancer that no matter what Yuuri was led into, even steps with little flourishes here and there, he was able to follow fluidly on instinct.

Victor hummed in thought, his thumb stroking the side of Yuuri’s, “You know,” he started, his heavy gaze lingering to catch eyes with Yuuri. “We could dance again tomorrow after we wrap.”

Yuuri’s line of sight traced down Victor’s nose before flitting back up, lashes batting far too coquettishly for their own free will, “I wouldn’t want to bother you. I know you must be busy.”

“It’s no bother at all,” That smile caused Yuuri’s heart and feet to skip a beat. Without missing any of his own Victor guided their hips to a slower pace and allowed Yuuri a moment to get the rhythm back. “In fact, I’d love to dance with you more.”

Yuuri curled his lips, the smallest chuckle sounding just behind them, “Even after that trip up?”

“Of course. As nice as watching you is, I enjoy this a lot more.” The seriousness carried in Victor’s voice and face now sent a shiver down Yuuri’s spine.

How the hell was Yuuri supposed to get through tonight alive? Or without a repeat of last night’s activities? They had dramatically slowed at this point and Yuuri was anxiously awaiting what his body was going to do next because hell if he had any control over it at the moment. Apparently, it wanted back on Victor, one of his legs dragged up the length of Victor’s before curling to catch under his ass, his foot locking behind Victor’s knee.

Victor bit his lower lip, hand tracing down Yuuri’s back and gently squeezing at the flesh as it rounded up his thigh. They leaned together, Victor pulling Yuuri in closer to support him while Yuuri slid his leg out behind him to balance on Victor’s warm thigh. Barely a handful of seconds were spent in the position but Yuuri felt like he could have melted. Even the strength with which Victor righted them both to continue their pseudo-tango had Yuuri’s knees shaking.

“I’ll have to agree with that,” Yuuri spoke timidly to Victor’s shoulder, unable to look him in the face after that last move. “Dancing with you is much better than just watching.”

An amused hum tickled the shell of Yuuri’s ear causing his pulse to race towards his groin. “Really?” Victor guided them into a few steps that allowed their bodies to open up away from one another. The hold on their hands allowing their connection to remain. “What do you like about it?”

_”You. How you lead. How you hold me, support me. How warm you are. How dream-like this feels. Everything.”_ Yuuri’s mind was reeling with what he wanted to say, instead, he took the space he was given to turn in hand. On the second rotation, just before they connected again, he kicked his leg up and back to wrap it around Victor’s side. Yuuri’s leg was caught and held in place as he arched deep, Victor’s hold steadying while slowly pulling Yuuri into him. Yuuri closed his eyes, head tilting back over Victor’s shoulder as he allowed himself the moment to commit the warmth of Victor pressed in close to memory, “This.”

There was a sharp inhale behind him, hot, trembling breath spreading down his neck as they simultaneously flowed into the next move for Yuuri to spin and face Victor. The blush on Victor’s cheeks had deepened, rivaling the pink of his lips. And seeing how flustered he’d managed to get his idol pulled a sort of sharp, wicked grin out.

Yuuri slid his arms around Victor’s neck, holding his breath as they came in closer. Was this really about to happen? With how fast Yuuri’s heart pounded he began to feel light-headed, the thought of their lips coming together for a kiss was almost too much.

When Yuuri started to see the ceiling he honestly thought he was in the process of fainting. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion yet still quicker than he’d like sending a jolt of panic through his system. Yuuri flailed, frantically torn between bracing for impact or grabbing back onto Victor as he felt his body go completely sideways, legs jerking as they seemed to kick out from under him.

In a jumble of limbs, Yuuri crashed to the floor of the stage with Victor on top of him, scrambling to his knees in alarm, “Oh my god, Yuuri! I’m so sorry!” Yuuri’s shoulders were grabbed as he blinked up in confusion at what just happened. “Are you okay? I’m so sorry, so, so, sorry!” Victor apologized over and over, asking if Yuuri was okay, “I didn’t think- I was trying to dip you but then you- oh my god I’m so sorry!”

Yuuri took a deep breath, eyes still wide in shock as he processed what just happened. He felt fine, nothing seemed to be hurt except possibly Victor’s ego. The man would not stop apologizing and the blush from earlier was drained from his cheeks.

Wow, after all that intuitive dancing, following one another so naturally, gracefully, seductively even. And then this. The absurdity of it and the partial relief from the anxiousness of almost kissing Victor caught Yuuri off guard. What started as a mild giggle quickly built up into full-on laughter. And somehow the sight of Victor’s beyond confused expression, still pale with fright that he’d accidentally hurt Yuuri made it worse. Why couldn’t he stop laughing? Why was he _The Worst_ when it came to flirting or trying to be sexy?

“Are you okay, Yuuri?” Victor’s look of concern only made him laugh more, it was impossible to stop. It wasn’t even that funny.

“I-I’m fine!” He blurted out when he got enough air. “I just can’t stop.”

He must have looked insane. Victor raised an eyebrow at him, slowly smiling before his own laughter started to take over. Yuuri had ruined the mood, he knew it. But how were they supposed to come back from Victor dropping him during a simple dip anyway? “I’m sorry!” Victor forced out at one point. “I can be a little clumsy sometimes.”

“Sometimes?!” Yuuri squinted up at Victor, who only laughed harder as Yuuri repeated himself, an unnaturally high pitch added to the word as it squeaked out.

Victor palmed down his face, shoulders shaking as he admitted, “Okay, a lot clumsy.”

Yuuri would have been hard-pressed to imagine Victor as anything but elegant before he took this job. The air about him in all his videos, and Mila’s, always exuded sex appeal or if anything at least sure-footedness. These last few days with Victor had proven there was certainly far more to him behind the camera.

He liked the idea of being privy to this side of his idol. Yuuri had spent countless hours staring at and studying everything that was Victor. But everyone else had that side of him. This clumsy tripping up steps, turning the wrong way, knocking into walls and accidentally dropping Yuuri during a dip was something for him to cherish that no other fan would be able to. Recalling it all made his sides ache and it only dragged Victor further down to Yuuri’s level of absurdity.

That gorgeous laughter and those tears building in the corners of Victor’s eyes from how ridiculous this way. Getting to see so much light in Victor as they laughed over nothing at all, seeing him relaxed enough to enjoy the moment and not take everything so seriously was beautiful. _”This. All of this is what I like about you.”_

It took them awhile to calm down and regain the ability to breathe again, faces redder than when they’d been dancing. Though not completely from the laughter, for Yuuri at least. He’d felt a new warmth settle over him during this. One that kept a soft smile fixed in place even as they eventually stood again and climbed down from the stage to turn off the music and gather Yuuri’s belongings.

Victor lingered as Yuuri dressed, happy to talk about anything and nothing at all, throwing in the occasional “Are you sure you’re not hurt? I won’t be able to forgive myself if you are!”

“Promise, I’m fine.” Yuuri smiled as he swung his bag onto his shoulder. “It’ll take a lot more than that to damage me.”

“Good! I mean,” Victor cocked his head to the side, rubbing his neck. “I won’t take that as a challenge or anything, I swear but… I’d still like to dance with you again tomorrow.”

“Mmm, count on it.” Yuuri wished he had the guts to lean in for a hug, a kiss wasn’t happening and a handshake would have been awkward. Even as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his joggers he was left satisfied with how today went.

“I will.” Victor shot Yuuri a wink with a soft smile. “Goodnight Yuuri, see you tomorrow.”

“Night, Victor.” It should have felt weird or disappointing to not get more out of the evening. But it still felt right as he made his way out of the studio to call an Uber. This had been enough to at least confirm that Victor had indeed been flirting with Yuuri. And as much as his libido was screaming for more his heart was pleasantly calm and full.

Sleep came hard and fast that night, laced with dreams of dancing with Victor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm probably going to get yelled at for the ending... but I like it. Both the ending and the frustrated yelling. 8D I promise I'm right there with you though, just a little longer! ;D
> 
> Much love for kudos and comments, you can also find me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/viktorbunny) and [Tumblr](https://viktorbunny.tumblr.com/).


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victor has had a lot on his mind the last few days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another Victor POV! 
> 
> I had a lot of fun with this one because Vitya and co are excellent. I do apologize this was so late as per my normal posting schedule for this fic... I unfortunately can't tell what the next 2-3 months will look like productivity wise because of travel and zine work. But I PROMISE this will continue to be worked on, even if I can't get it up in a timely manner at the moment. For now, I hope you enjoy how terribly thirsty this man is.
> 
> I also commissioned the amazingly talented [Mary Larson for a little something at the end of the fic](https://artofmarylarson.tumblr.com/post/176488884405/commission-for-the-wonderful-viktorbunny-for-her) ;D (spoiler warning?: this link goes to the art commission!)
> 
> Edit: Dyeingdoll on Tumblr gifted me this [amazing fanart from one of the last scenes](https://dyeingdoll.tumblr.com/post/176531479792/this-fic-is-sofly-killing-me-i-stg-go-and-drown) as well! A little bit of a spoiler just so you know.
> 
> Once again this had no beta, so please excuse any dumb mistakes I've made that might find. :sweat drop laugh emoji into the sun:
> 
>  

Victor had been buzzing with energy since the moment his alarm went off that morning. Even his makeup artist had to ask him to sit still a few times. He couldn’t help it, he was near bursting to see Yuuri again, to talk to him about anything and everything. To be honest, he was getting antsy to talk to anyone really, but it felt weird to discuss what he considered his first _real crush_ in front of the crew. Especially when it involved another dancer that was on set.

“Chris,” Victor pulled his friend by the elbow in the direction of the exit. Their makeup, hair, and wardrobe were finished. Georgi and Mila were the last two being worked on in the private dressing room the four of them shared, at Mila’s constant insistence for every shoot and tour. She always said that having them close kept pre-show jitters from rearing their ugly head. “I need to talk to you, privately.”

“Nous pouvons parler en Français?*” Chris asked. Whenever they needed to have a serious or private discussion they normally did it in French. It was a language only the two of them shared, so it was usually fine to speak in front of Mila and the crew, but this was different.

“No, this is fine,” Victor assured him as they made their way down the hall. He wasn’t planning on taking them anywhere in particular, he just needed to move.

Chris nodded, “So what’s up?”

Victor let out a tiny whimper, biting back his lower lip. His heart raced at the idea of finally coming clean with how he felt. If he could trust anyone to tell first, it was certainly Chris. He swallowed and waited until they passed a small cluster of crew rushing in the opposite direction. “I’m,” he inhaled, steeling himself to just do it. “I umm...” Victor’s eyes darted around the fluorescent-lit hallway then back to his friend, “I have a crush, on Yuuri.” When the words finally left him his voice sounded almost unrecognizable, like it was echoing in his ears.

“Ha!” The white noise was broken up as Chris chuckled, shaking his head. “I was wondering when you were going to admit it.”

“Huh?” Victor gawked at him, “How did you–?”

“Vitya, you are anything but subtle.” Chris smiled over at him as they continued slowly down the hall. “I had my doubts after Georgi and I spoke to you. But you’ve literally been tripping over that man since day one.”

“I can’t help it!” Victor whined as quietly as he could manage. “Have you seen him? He’s gorgeous and such an amazing dancer…” he trailed off as thoughts of Yuuri literally twirled and jetéd across his mind.

Chris hummed in agreement, “Oh I have. He’s quite the catch it seems. Though with an ass like that I would hope he’s doing the catching.” Victor narrowed his eyes at Chris. His friends' smile was far too wicked to be joking. “Don’t tell me you haven’t thought about him like that.” Chris waved him off. “You might be respectful and courteous in public ma chérie, but I know you too well.”

Victor sighed and rolled his eyes. Chris had a point. It’s not as if Victor was some kind of celibate saint. Though he wasn’t the kind of person to casually sleep around to release sexual tension there was a reason he enjoyed romance novels and didn’t care to return that gifted vibrator all those years ago. A man had needs, he had just been satisfied to take care of them himself. Until recently. “Your gift that keeps on giving has not gone to waste this week.” He could feel his cheeks heat as he admitted it.

“Good. I’m glad to hear it.” Chris slipped his arm through Victor’s and patted his bicep comfortingly, their aimless wandering pointing them towards the first soundstage. “Darling you know I love you and care about you. I want to see you happy. Have you thought about telling Yuuri how you feel when this is done?”

“I have, but I’m not sure I should.” Victor felt his heart drop as he the words left his lips.

Now it was Chris’ turn to give Victor a shocked look, twice in fact, “You’ve got to be kidding me. I’ve never seen you this head over heels for a living breathing human being. I might make fun of you for denying yourself junk food and vacations but Vitya, there is no way I’m going to let you walk away from this pleasure. Life should be full of love.”

Victor sighed again in frustration, “I know, I know. My life is full of nothing but work and I–”

“So what are you worried about?” Their arms tightened as they walked, Chris was always a good person to open up to like this. He was younger than Victor but his varying life experiences gave Chris the know-how to help whenever asked.

“Upsetting him, making him uncomfortable, rejection and never seeing him again.” The last thing Victor wanted was to upset Yuuri or be the reason for any kind of anxiety attack while on set. As much as a rejection would hurt, he’d never forgive himself for any trouble he might cause Yuuri.

Chris nodded his head and laid a reassuring hand on Victor’s forearm, “Valid reasons for hesitation.” He pushed the door open to the far side of the much darker void of the soundstage. The only light was the downcast lighting for the group dances and it was being tested for filming later. At Yakov’s request, they would be reshooting to allow for new camera angles and panning. “You know who else doesn’t appear to be very subtle with their feelings,” Chris didn’t even have to say a name, Victor was well aware. “I get the sense he might be just as nervous to say something to you.”

“At least he doesn’t trip over his own two feet or drop people.” Victor had been thoroughly annoyed with himself and how he’d acted the last few days. He wanted to impress Yuuri, sweep him off his feet and romance him. Not fall up stairs, stumble into walls and drop him on a stage floor.

“Wait, drop people?” Chris blinked at Victor in the dim lighting.

If anything could make him heat faster than the thought of how embarrassing it was to drop Yuuri last night it was the way they’d danced beforehand. “Fuck, he was just so perfect and all I could think about–” _’Was how badly I wanted to kiss him and hold him against me.’_ “And I was so inside my own head he just slipped out of my arms.”

“When did... never mind. Now I know why you skipped out so fast last night.” Chris gave Victor a smug smile. “Glad to see you making an attempt at least. Because I mean, you _are_ aware that he likes you, right? I’m not parting the clouds and making way for sudden realization here, am I? You’re not _that_ blinded by your crush are you?”

“No,” Victor reassured Chris. “I’m aware. I’m just…” He trailed off in thought as they continued a slow walk through the soundstage. It was far from quiet and calm, everyone seemed to buzz around them at three times the speed. Victor wasn’t blind, he wasn’t dense. He knew Yuuri was interested enough just by the way he danced, let alone the flirty passes he’d made at Victor. Hell, it’d been blunt enough to drive Victor to pleasure himself the last couple of nights. He wasn’t sure if that made him weak to the lusty side of his feelings for Yuuri, but it was ridiculously hard to avoid getting turned on by him. Especially when the way Yuuri moved his hips against Victor replayed in his mind over and over while trying to sleep. The only thing that gave him any grip on reality when alone was the thought of Yuuri’s smile and laugh. The things he’d do to be able to see and hear those parts of Yuuri on a daily basis made his head spin. Victor bit back his lower lip.

“Absolutely smitten it seems.” Chris tugged him gently by the arm back to life. They’d stopped walking. “You’ve got that glazed over look you get when you’re at a raunchy scene in your books.” A few crew members skirted around them as Chris stood there watching Victor with the biggest shit eating grin ever. “Thinking about those thighs wrapped around your head? Or that perky bottom of his on your-”

“Chris!” Victor hissed and pulled him along.

Chris laughed as he was dragged further along the first soundstage. “I’m only human, mans got a body like a work of art.” He inhaled sharply between his teeth and licked his lips, “You’re lucky I’m interested in someone else or I would have gone after that.” Victor rolled his eyes with an embarrassed smile. Chris had zero filters when it came to discussing sex, which to be fair was one of the reasons they got along so well. They could talk openly with one another without feeling judged. Though when out in public, Victor liked to play coy one. He chuckled as Chris knocked his hip into him, “Be honest, you’d gladly suffocate with that ass on your face.”

“Oh my god, Christophe! You kiss your mother with that mouth?” Joking with his friend was the only thing saving him from wanting to run off and find Yuuri. To do or say what, he didn’t know. But he tightened his arm around Chris’, hoping this distraction kept him grounded.

“I do a lot more with my mouth, chérie.” Victor was tossed a saucy wink, thankful for Chris’ ability to always find a way to lighten the mood.

A younger man with a headset came up alongside them and cleared his throat for their attention, “Fifteen minute call time for the pole stage Mr. Nikiforov.” Victor grimaced a little at the formality of it but thanked him before he was running off again.

“Ready to see your future lover boy put the moves on Mila again?” Chris batted his eyelashes.

“Always and never.” Victor’s heart raced at the thought. He could watch Yuuri pole dance until the end of time but it would always cause him to be on edge. Yuuri had more than fulfilled the role of seductive siren needed for the video. Graceful, powerful, beautiful and just that right touch of darkness. But Victor fell for it every time, and hard. There were only so many times he could recite the national anthem to ward off the horrors of an erection in public before even that had no effect.

Chris hummed as they stepped over taped down wires and shimmied around a bunch of empty rack cases. “Speaking of moves, I support you making one on our resident hottie before it’s too late.”

“Thanks.” Victor took a deep breath, exhaling slowly as they got closer to the pole soundstage. “I just don’t want to push him.” He didn’t know Yuuri that well, and if he ever caused him discomfort he’d never forgive himself. Whether or not it was him making the first move, all he could do at this point was try to be patient and wait for when the time was right.

Chris cleared his throat, “Well, all I can say then is don’t let him get away. He might have brought back the dreaded Clumsy Vitya but I haven’t seen you smile this much in a while. If he makes you happy, by all means, push.”

It was sobering to hear Chris say that. Had he really been so buried in work lately that his carefree, fun-loving, best friend was noticing the toll it’d taken?

There was a blur of red hair and white robes as Mila and Georgi rushed passed them, beating him and Chris to the monitors set up near Otabek and his soundboards. Yakov was already there, reviewing dress rehearsal footage. Victor felt his heart stop and arm stiffen in Chris’ hold as he caught a glimpse of a rather brazen shot of Yuuri’s ass as he slid down the pole into a slow split, so close you could see how much his one cheek plumped out as his thigh hit the ground. They were really going all out to try to murder Victor with this footage. “Make sure this shot makes it in during a take or two,” Yakov noted to the director. “Mila’s fanbase goes just as wild over the male dancers as they do her.”

“Well when you hire dancers like me, of course, they would.” Chris joked.

“Christophe,” Yakov grumbled. “No fooling around on set again today, we have too much to get through.”

Chris raised his hands in defense, “I wasn’t the one who started playing _’Back That Ass Up’_ after lunch, but you know, it did wake everyone up.”

Yakov narrowed his eyes at a far too innocent smile from Chris. Without taking an eye off his mischievous dancer, he shouted over his shoulder at the sound engineer, “Otabek! Keep Chris away from the soundboards today.” Victor watched as Otabek gave a silent thumbs up followed by one stern nod of agreement from Yakov. It was frightening but kind of cool to see how Yakov worked, somehow he managed to be this kind of all-knowing entity, much to the groups' dismay when they wanted to mess around. The older man cleared his throat and focused his hardened gaze on Victor. “Vitya, I need you on the call with Mila and Sara tonight after filming.”

Victor immediately felt his heart sink into the pit of his stomach. He’d promised Yuuri to dance again after filming. And as much as he loved what he did for a living his alone time with Yuuri was quickly becoming the only thing he craved. What was also quickly becoming a thing was how little time they had left before this contract job ended and Yuuri returned home. He swallowed the lump in his throat and forced out a choked, “Okay.”

A bushy eyebrow was raised as Yakov shook his head, knowing Victor giving in easily wasn’t exactly a good sign. “Just be sure you’re there. They need the information on dancers we’ve been going over, so the production crew can rent the right equipment. I can’t be there, but you need to start stepping up on all things production-wise for me anyway.”

He knew what that meant and nodded. Victor had been asking for months, years even, to learn more and take on more responsibility. Not only when it came to hiring his dancers but when it came to all the nitty-gritty of production. So he wasn’t about to turn this down. The timing just really sucked. “I’ll be sure,” Victor placated the concerned expression on Yakov’s face with another affirmative as both of them were pulled into another round of shot reviews by the director.

At least this conversation had a more pleasant topic. Namely one dark-haired, hard-bodied, bendable and flexible Japanese dancer he couldn’t seem to stop drooling and tripping over. Forget about Mila’s fans enjoying the ride Yuuri was about to put them all on, Victor had been standing in line for days already, and was getting extremely parched from the wait. It was beyond easy to agree with or point out what needed to be focused on for today's pole shoot. All he had to do was say what _he_ wanted to see and everyone else was jumping on board. If only every scene in every video they shot was this easy.

The fifteen minutes of review went by in the blink of an eye. Before Victor knew it he was being jostled back to the present by Georgi knocking his hip into his. “Looking good this morning huh?”

“Hmmm?” Victor pulled his eyes from the monitor to greet his friend, who was playing with the tie from Mila’s discarded robe. “Oh yeah, we pulled some really nice focus for today.”

Georgi curled the sides of his mouth upwards. “Not those,” he shot a look up to the platform stage he’d come down from. “Him.”

Victor’s line of sight was drawn to Yuuri, standing there in all his latex clad, feathered and lubed glory. A makeup artist was putting the finishing touches on him; blending the edge of a smokey eye here, adding more highlighter to a cheekbone there, sadly blocking the full frontal view Victor had been craving all morning. When she finished her work around his eye makeup and Yuuri finally opened them it was like they had been trained on him since he took the stage. Victor hoped he had enough foundation on to hide any blush, because wow did he feel the heat.

Even the director calling out Yuuri’s first take directions couldn’t ruin this moment for Victor. He watched with bated breath as Yuuri went to take his mark on the pole, Mila a blurred afterthought in his peripheral as she took her own position near him.

Georgi whispered around Victor’s back, “Has he been this spacey all morning?”

“Shhh,” Chris chuckled over the noise of them calling cues to Otabek and for quiet on the set. “He’s studying his prey.”

“Rolling!” Someone shouted from near one of the static cameras, followed by an assistant listing off the scene and take before releasing his clapper. 

Victor swallowed hard as action was called, the music started and Yuuri came to life with a high kick into a reverse grab spin. He only knew the name of this spin and a few others moves from the research they’d done before auditions. If he’d had more free time during the last few days Victor would have been looking up each move he’d seen Yuuri do. Everything looked effortless, though Victor was sure of the strength needed each time he saw Yuuri’s muscles flex.

Watching Yuuri pole dance was unlike anything he’d ever seen before. Victor was awestruck by the grace, impressed by the power and turned on by the sex appeal. Everything else going on around him fell away into nothingness, drowned out by the provocative moves that somehow seemed five times as potent since the last time he saw them.

Make that one hundred times. Victor hadn’t noticed the pool of growing warmth at the base of his spine until he was cutting it too close. Dance belt or not, Yuuri was effectively about to force Victor to quit everything and move away out of embarrassment unless he did something.

Victor reached out to the robe still hanging over Georgi’s forearms and grabbed the material up. It, unfortunately, met resistance as Georgi held it firm and shot him a funny look. “Can I help you?” Georgi raised an eyebrow at Victor as he gave another tug.

“I, ah, it’s cold with the stage fans on. Please?” When Georgi wouldn’t let go Victor begged again, “Please, Gosha.” He could hear the desperation in his own voice, the dance belt had become uncomfortable during the few quick minutes it took Yuuri to hypnotize Victor into a private fantasy world. He hoped Georgi would understand his plea for salvation behind the robe.

“Don’t make the man beg, Gosha.” Chris purred. “I’ll get jealous that it isn’t me you’re provoking.” Without even looking over at Chris he knew his friend was shooting Georgi a saucy grin and batting his lashes, the kind of look that came paired with his brand of teasing.

Georgi let go of the robe and rolled his eyes to the ceiling, mouthing something silently to himself. A telltale sign that he would rather give up now than let their friend know he was succeeding in ruffling his feathers.

Victor wrapped the robe around him as quickly as he could, tying it tightly in the front in hopes that it was hiding the ever growing bulge of his dance belt. “Thank you,” he told Georgi, obvious relief painting his face.

Georgi twisted his mouth to the side and nodded. “I understand... being cold. Mila has that effect on me still, when she dances.”

Chris leaned in and wrapped his arms around Victor’s waist, resting his chin on his shoulder. Victor allowed it, too taken with watching Yuuri set up for another take of one combination, the safety of Mila’s robe protecting him now. The two of them sighed in unison. Chris swooned, “Isn’t he dreamy?”

Yuuri held himself perpendicular on the pole, stretching into a split before effortlessly using a series of twist around the pole to dip upside down and then turn himself upright. He scissored his legs out, pole lodged firmly between his upper thighs. A very coquettish looking version of the superman pose, with one foot kicked up, allowing his free hand to ghost over the edge of Mila’s cage-like outfit above her stomach. Their positions reminded him of a sixty-nine, and now that’s all Victor could think about. “Yeah.” Victor probably had a lot more to say in reply, but this was all his brain could produce right now.

Thank god for this robe.

\----

By the time all the men were sitting down to lunch together, Victor had reeled himself in a little. Though if Chris or Georgi had been asked how Victor was handling his feelings they probably would have broken down into hysterical laughter. Mila probably would have joined them had she been privy to any of the insight the two of them had this morning. But it was unlikely she knew of Victor’s feelings for their resident pole dancer, and she’d taken her lunch in the green room to have her hair and part of her makeup restyled.

Poor Yuuri took Victor’s barrage of questions about pole dancing with grace. Victor couldn’t help it. Not only was he too intrigued by everything Yuuri did pole-wise but it was a chance to get to know a little more about him. Everything from ‘when was your first competition’ to ‘how do your glasses stay on while practicing’ to ‘what was that one move called’? Yuuri seemed confused by them at first, but by the end of lunch he was excitedly explaining moves and laughing about how many times he’d fallen off the pole while first learning.

It was nice to see Yuuri open up and really talk to him about something he was obviously so passionate about. And Victor would have gladly sat and listened for hours had they not needed to head back inside and get ready for the second half of filming on the group dances. With so many variables going into a video like this, another round of filming a previously shot set was almost unavoidable. By mid-afternoon touch ups were done and everyone was assembled on the soundstage. Now his real work had to begin.

Working with Yuuri that morning had truly been a blessing. Not only was any given direction taken easily but he maintained an impressive amount of professionalism and stamina regardless of however many retakes were needed. A stark contrast to how the second half of the day was already going.

Apparently, his dancers had gone a bit stir crazy waiting for their time on set. They were like herding cats at points and as patient as the producer was because of his need to review takes every now and then and reset the cameras, Victor felt Yakov staring him down every time he had to corral the dancers. He knew he was being watched closer than usual when Yakov refused to step up and help when a large group of them started a twerk-off that extended a thirty-minute break by another ten. No one would listen to him until he finally found and used a megaphone to shout over the music and cheering for them to get back into formation. The whole situation left a sour taste in his mouth for Bluetooth speakers, when did they get so powerful?

“Can’t handle your own crew old man?” Yuri cackled while carrying coffee back to Otabek. For once Victor couldn’t muster a comeback. Even Chris was behaving more than usual, a sign that his best friend could practically see the stress radiating off him. That or he was just playing his angel card until Yakov left for the night, taking with him the professional heckler that was Yuri.

The only thing that kept a practiced smile on Victor’s face till they called it a wrap for the evening was reminding himself how much closer he was to some alone time with Yuuri. Sweet Yuuri, who hadn’t put a toe out of line all night, who made sure Victor stayed hydrated and offered to get him any coffee or energy drinks when he was stuck reviewing footage.

It took all of his self-control to not pick Yuuri up and just run away from this madness. He came close to dropping to his knees and kissing those boots of his when he understood Victor needed to be on a phone meeting after filming too. “I’ll wait, I really don’t mind.” That soft smile Yuuri gave him hours before was burned into his retinas, gracing his inner lids as his hair stylist began the task of carefully undoing her work. It helped so much knowing Yuuri would be waiting for him.

“I’ll put us on speaker,” Sara said, pulling an empty chair up between Victor and Mila.

“Sweetie you want anything or just want to grab dinner at home?” Georgi held Mila’s hand, caressing the back of it with both of his thumbs as her own messy mane started to get combed through.

Mila moaned at the gentle massage, “Home, I just want to shower and curl up with something hot.”

Victor watched as Georgi brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles, “Of course, any wishes?”

“Can we have a cheat night? I want Chinese.” Her voice perked up at the thought before the three men surrounding her, and Sara, all tsked. “Fine, fine, after the photoshoot. We’ll stick to the usual then.” The usual for her during video and pre-photoshoots being white fish, kasha, and veggies.

Georgi gave her a quick kiss before excusing himself to the bathroom with Chris, leaving the rest of them with privacy for the meeting. He envied Mila and Georgi’s moments like that. They were tender, a simple gesture that showed the love and care they had for one another. Would he be able to kiss Yuuri’s hand and ask him what he wanted for dinner the same way, one day?

Victor sighed quietly as Sara pulled up the number on her phone. The phone rang a few times before a familiar voice picked up, the same man from the same production company they’d worked closely with for years now, “Hey Sara, how’s your evening?”

“Great Johnny, I have Mila and Victor with me tonight. How are you doing?” Everyone exchange niceties before getting down to business.

“I’ve reviewed the stage concepts Yakov had sent over last week and based on previous specs I see you’re looking to expand width wise? I just wanted to be clear on the sizes you want because some of these stadiums won’t have the space for it,” Johnny was always good at catching the details and he knew most of the venues by heart after working in the industry for so long. “I didn’t see a concept for a lengthened option but I can easily recommend some elevated walkways to compensate if you still need the space.”

Victor’s mind took a while to start up into business mode. He somehow barely remembered seeing any finalized stage sketches and spec lists but Mila seemed right on top of it. “Ah, sorry about that Johnny, I thought we had covered the bases for the smaller venues. But yes, we would still need the space. We’re hoping to have a larger pool of dancers for this tour and my main goal is more interaction with the audience, so really, elevated walkways sound like an amazing idea!”

“Excellent! Would you want me to email different costs over to the typical production team?”

“Would you mind copying me on that as well?” Victor asked, wincing as a particularly nasty knot in the extensions was caught. He couldn’t wait to have these things removed tomorrow.

“Of course Victor,” Johnny obliged and asked Sara a technical question about a particular stadium, getting her to flip through some papers in her lap to confirm. Victor noticed the concept sketches and quickly reached a handout, silently asking to see them as the two girls took over the conversation.

Sara handed them off to Victor and he looked each over carefully. Some of these he remembered, but the concepts had changed or evolved through discussions it seemed. Overall it was a very similar aesthetic to what they were going for with this music video, in fact, there were even attached fashion sketches from this video shoot. That got Victor thinking about the walkways, “Hey Johnny, would you be able to throw in a few more quotes for us?”

“Sure thing, what ya looking for?”

“The walkways, specifically the lighting for them,” Victor flipped to one of the specification sheets to confirm his thoughts and sure enough there were overhead cameras listed. “Can you give quotes for up lighting on the walkway edges and if possible that same kind of light up floor paneling we got for the shoot we’re on now?” If they were reasonably priced the gears were already turning for adapting some of his choreography from the flower orgy dance to fit the space.

“Multicolor or white like before?”

“Both please and thank you,” Victor nodded and Johnny confirmed.

The group exchanged a few more questions and answers, clarifying anything that seemed confusing and adding any last minute things to the list to quote. This kind of back and forth happened a lot but Victor was thankful for it and Mila was lucky she had so much say in her stage and video concepts these days. Other artists in this industry– not so much. They still remained under strict orders that everything had to be passed by management, which honestly drove Yakov a bit crazy sometimes. Maybe that was part of the reason he was letting Mila and Victor take the reigns more often, to get a little more free time.

Speaking of free time, there was a note of relief in his voice by the time they said their goodbyes. Not only because the stylist was finally finished carefully combing his hair back into his nightly ponytail but because work was finished. He practically threw the concept sketches that were still in his hands at Sara.

“Hey Vitya, did Yakov ever approve the fifteen dancers you requested?” Mila asked as she climbed out of her own chair and stretched with a big yawn.

“Huh?” He thought he heard her question, but was already fishing under the random stuff left on the makeup counter for his phone. Something about Yakov’s approval on whatever. “Approval? No, nothing.”

“Nothing? Do you want me to ask him?” She and Sara stood and watched the chaos that was Victor giving himself a baby wipe shower and going through no less than five makeup wipes to look somewhat like himself again. He always brought face wash with him to shoots but that would take valuable time away. “We need to know soon so we can sign them, we start choreography for the tour next month.”

Victor tossed the used wipes in the trash under the vanity, “Yeah, yeah, sounds good!” He dove into his gym bag for fresh clothes, simultaneously stripping out of the robe and underwear he’d changed into for the meeting. The underwear was clean and its not like it mattered at all, but he wanted his favorite pair of black briefs on tonight, because why not?

“Vitya,” Sara gave an exaggerated groan, making zero effort to cover her eyes as Victor hopped around in the buff to get his undies pulled on. “Mila I’m surprised Georgi puts up with him always streaking in the green room.”

Mila shrugged and hummed, “He knows Victor is harmless if anything it’s Chris that worries him.” Mila and Sara both giggles and shot hands out to balance Victor as he tilted sideways while trying to jump into his sweats. “Victor, calm down why are you so rushed?”

“Hot date?” Sara snickered as Victor’s giant grin gave him away after pulling his shirt down over his head.

“Something like that.” He winked at the ladies, shoving his feet into a fresh pair of socks and crouching down to slide on his sneakers, laces still tied from this morning.

“Oh, my god, _who?!_ ” They both squealed in excitement.

He was too excited himself to stop and explain, they would want to know too many details and he’d kept Yuuri waiting long enough already. “It’s a secret.” Victor shoved the last of his laundry into the bag before flinging it over his shoulder, “See you two tomorrow.” He departed with a wave, bumping smack into Georgi as he rounded the corner through the doorway with Chris.

“Whoa, whoa! Someone's in a rush!” Chris braced Georgi from getting run over while Victor got out as many apologies as he could before stepping around the group and taking off down the hall. “He’s on the pole stage!” Chris shouted after him in sing-song.

The last thing he heard was Mila and Sara gasping in shock as he booked it down the maze of hallways and back to where he started that morning. He didn’t mean to tear out of the green room like a tornado but he’d been looking forward to spending more alone time with Yuuri since last night. Nothing was going to stop him now, not even a last minute call from Yakov.

There was music playing through the soundstage again tonight, a mid-tempo Latin-hip hop beat with distinct guitar riffs was drifting across the enormous room. Victor knew this song all too well, the lyrics calling him out a little as Rihanna started in on the lyrics for _Wild Thoughts_. A coincidence for sure, like yesterday. These were popular songs at the moment and like most other dancers Yuuri seemed to like using current and popular ones to draw inspiration from.

He inhaled as Yuuri came into view, spinning around the pole, held aloft with it between his thighs. He stretched his legs and one arm back as he leaned with the beat before curling back in. Yuuri must have seen Victor coming this time because he gracefully slid back down to the stage floor and was already standing at the edge by the time Victor finished his approach. He dropped his bag, smiling up at Yuuri as he jumped to catch the edge and push himself up. “Hey, thanks for waiting.”

“Of course,” Yuuri’s hand came down to help him up. “I had some surprise company.”

Victor furrowed his brow, “Chris and Georgi huh? Now I really need to apologize.”

Yuuri laughed, waving it off playfully. “I’ve had far worse.” Damn, what does Victor need to do to keep this beautiful man laughing? He hoped it wouldn’t come to accidentally dropping him again. On the bright side, it had allowed Victor the chance hear and see Yuuri being completely relaxed for the first time. He wanted more of that. “So, I thought maybe we could try something different tonight?” Yuuri bit back his lip, eyes darting towards the pole behind him. “Would you want to try pole dancing?”

“Wow!” His face lit up. Why didn’t Victor think of this? He’d taken enough interest in pole recently, had even mused to Chris and Georgi about taking some classes, but hadn’t thought to ask the one person right in front of him who could easily show him the basics. There was no downside to this, it was a win-win. Victor would get alone time with Yuuri and learn something new. “Yes! I’d love to!”

Even if he hadn’t been so curious to try pole dancing, the smile on Yuuri’s face was rewarding enough for him to give it a solid go. “Great! You had so many questions at lunch, I was hoping you’d be into the idea.”

Victor nodded and followed Yuuri over, his excitement quickly bubbling through him at this prospect. He wondered out of all the students he’d taught at the studio, how many of them felt as lucky as Victor did right now to have someone so talented teaching them. Not to mention how lucky they must feel getting to see him every week in these skimpy pole shorts. “Do you get a lot of beginners through the studio?”

“Mmm,” Yuuri cocked his head to the side. “We get a decent amount. Though I’d say the majority are there for competition reasons.” He picked up the nearby towel and alcohol spray and stretched an arm up to give the pole a quick wipe down.

“How many beginners stick around long enough to enter a competition?” If it was anything like the multitude of dance styles that had super intense competitions he guessed it wasn’t a terribly high number. Dance competitions were demanding enough especially when styles evolved and started to blend or become acrobatic in ways. The full body strength on top of the stamina need for pole routines couldn’t be written off. Competitions wouldn’t be for the faint of heart.

“Not a lot. Usually, if someone sticks around for fitness purposes they end up wanting to compete. They see the progress they’ve made and their confidence builds.” That made sense. Yuuri smiled shyly as he placed everything a few feet back from the pole. “I’ll um, start you off easy.”

Victor beamed, “Not too easy, I hope.” He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t thrilled by the idea of trying something cool looking, but he trusted that Yuuri wouldn’t toss him into the deep end of the pool too fast. Besides, he’d be happy with anything Yuuri taught him.

Yuuri cleared his throat, the shy smile growing a little broader. “Well, we’ll do chair spin first and see where to go from there.” He moved up next to the pole and reached an arm above his head to grab high up. “You’ll place your hands here and here, a little lower than chest height.” The other hand reached across Yuuri’s body to grab where he mentioned. “Walk around the pole, inside leg first.” Yuuri began to walk tiptoed to demonstrate. “Then swing your outer leg around for momentum and while pushing with your lower arm, _pull_ your knees up like you’re sitting.” He effortlessly showed Victor the full move, spinning around the pole once before putting his feet back down. “Now you try.”

Victor stepped up and placed his hands where he had been shown, Yuuri adjusting the height on his lower hand a little. “Remember to push with this arm.” Yuuri backed off a little as Victor began his walk around the pole and gave a little push off of the floor while swinging his leg around, hoping to get enough momentum to finish a full spin. “No jumping!” Yuuri corrected playfully as Victor came to a stop.

“I jumped?!” Victor said in shock.

“A little, try to remember to just pull your knees up. The momentum from your walk and leg should be all you need.” He mimed holding the pole with his hands. “And the lower arm buckled, _push out_ with it to keep your body as far from the pole as possible.”

“Ah,” Victor nodded, eyes widening a little. “So much to remember at one time. This is a beginner move?”

Yuuri smiled and chuckled lightly, “Yeah.” He took possession of the pole back to show Victor the run through again. “Like this, momentum, push your body away and pull your knees up. No jumping this time, try again.”

“Okay, I got this.” Victor was determined. Of all the complicated dance numbers he’s done over the years, he should be able to do this one beginner's pole spin. He went through it again, this time giving himself more speed.

It was a bit smoother now and the little clap Yuuri gave as he finished was reassuring. “Much better! You’re still jumping a little though, you’ve got plenty of core just focus on that and you won’t find yourself jumping.”

Victor scratched the back of his head with a small laugh, “You make this look so easy.”

Yuuri shook his head, “You’re already doing chair spin better than my first timers, it’s just repetition to get the technique down and then like other dance moves it becomes easy muscle memory.” He perked up, a thought crossing his mind as Yuuri spun around to his gym back and fished out his phone. “Try again and I’ll show you.”

As he readied the phone in front of him Victor got back into position and waited for Yuuri’s okay then repeated the move while trying his best to remember everything he had been told.

“Yes!” Yuuri cheered, “Look!” He hurried over to play back the video for Victor.

“Oh my god!” Victor gently held the phone with Yuuri and watched as he executed a pretty decent chair spin if he had to say so. “I did it!” It might not be as clean as Yuuri’s chair spin but knowing he did one was kind of exhilarating.

“Want to try another one?” As if Yuuri had to ask, Victor couldn’t say yes fast enough.

Over the next twenty minutes, Victor learned a front hook spin, a front hook into the chair spin, and a back hook spin – which Victor was kind of terrified of at first. Yuuri did his best not to laugh as Victor let out a strangled gasp the first time he practiced dropping backward. He couldn’t seem to help it, much to Yuuri’s cheeky delight.

Any dance moves that could possibly be likened to these were still so different. Years of building on technique and trusting what his body could do meant there was no fear of creating newer and more exciting moves for routines. Even the moves he’d done that combined his gymnastics training from when he was a kid, they were embedded in him already. So he trusted he had enough power to propel through it and that he could catch himself on the way down. This was different enough that it became an entirely new playing field for him. And he loved it. So much so he even grabbed his own phone at one point and asked Yuuri to take some videos and photos.

Even with all the fun he was having, it wasn’t lost on him how every time Yuuri touched him to help reposition an arm or guide him through something it sent butterflies through his stomach. Each smile and laugh from Yuuri was so genuine and real, and it spread a different kind of warmth through Victor than what had driven him over his edge alone at night. Being this close with Yuuri, both of them just having fun for once this week, goofing off as Victor picked up on the spins, it had him melting into each gentle touch.

He couldn’t remember the last time he felt so relaxed, so happy. And it was certainly news to him that cheeks could actually hurt from smiling so much. Maybe he’d never truly done it for so long before. Those practiced professional curls of the lip were probably going to feel really fake after this, after knowing the real thing.

They were both apparently pretty lost in what they were doing because Yuuri made a shocked noise when he looked at Victor’s phone screen after grabbing another video for him, “It’s getting pretty late. You’ve got a long drive, right?”

Victor shrugged as he leaned against the pole, “It’s fine, roads will be nice and clear.”

Yuuri kissed his teeth and gave Victor a once over, “One last move then.” No way Victor would turn that down. The corners of Yuuri’s lips curled up sharply as he narrowed his eyes at Victor. Suddenly, Victor felt glued to the floor. That look wasn’t as playful as the ones he’d been throwing Victor tonight. “But you need skin contact for this, strip.”

Well, that was one way to get all the blood to drain south. Victor had never kicked off his shoes and stripped so fast in his life, in fact, he had to actually stop himself the moment he felt his thumbs hook into his underwear. That probably wasn’t what Yuuri meant by strip, considering he was already wiping down the pole, this wasn’t going to be heading where Victor thought it was.

Victor turned as Yuuri tossed the towel off to the side and positioned himself in front of the pole. “Climbing, I think you could handle this on your own, but I’ll spot you.”

It was indeed a new move. “Okay, yeah.” Victor wasn’t going to let it get him down. Learning more after he’d been having so much fun already was certainly not a bad thing. Besides, this wasn’t one of his romance novels where people suddenly dropped their pants and were all over one another. He could still wish though.

Yuuri grabbed the pole above his head and brought one knee up, pressing the inside of it to the pole and flexing his foot to hold it. “This is all about the legs, so squeeze your knees as tight as you can.” He held firm and bent his other knee up on the opposite side, catching the pole with the back of his ankle and pointing his foot. “You create a way to stand by locking it with your feet and knees like this, so simply stand, you shouldn’t need to pull with your arms much.” Yuuri went through the motion, the pole pressed down the length of his body when he was finished. “Keep your legs locked and tight for now, reach up over your head again with one hand and while holding it here loosen the grip on your legs and slide them back up to a sitting position. The pole will be more in between your thighs so you’ll need to reposition like so,” Yuuri slowly moved his body away from the pole until it was back between his knees and stood again. “Then squeeze and repeat.”

He repeated the climb a few more times until he was at the top then slid back down to the stage. “That looks… wow.” Not just because Victor had an incredible view of Yuuri’s ass as he went further up but because it looked like more to remember than just the spins. And this was taking him off the ground, much higher than he was used to for even his craziest of dance numbers.

“You’ll be fine, I’ll walk you through it.”

Victor swallowed and stood at the base of the pole before grabbing it above his head. “A little higher,” Yuuri guided his hands on where to grab, lingering a moment around Victor’s wrists. Already he could feel a heat rising on his cheeks. Yuuri tapped the side of one of his thighs. “Up, parallel to the floor.”

With his leg in position Victor double checked, “Foot is right?”.

“Yup, keep it flexed.” Yuuri came around to the side and pushed on Victor’s knee, “ _Squeeze_ , I won’t let you fall but you have to squeeze. Now bring the other up.”

He held his weight with his arms as he pulled his knee up, Yuuri helping to position his other foot in front of the pole. Already he could see the benefit to the leg and foot position. “And then I just stand?”

“Squeeze and stand,” Yuuri reminded him, quickly moving around back, holding Victor’s hips to steady him.

“Okay,” Victor exhaled and did his best to stand as gracefully as he saw Yuuri do it. He felt the hands on his hips keep a firm enough grasp to assist him up, much needed considering Victor wasn’t used to putting this kind of pressure on the tops of his feet.

“Good, I got you,” Yuuri remained with him as he slid his knees back up the pole. “Now bring yourself back so you can get the pole between your knees, really squeeze with your ankles to keep them locked.” Victor had no time to think about the fact he was quite literally about to shove his ass back into Yuuri’s face. A motion he’d surely love to be doing sans the pole and tight black briefs. But he had to steel himself before said underwear did nothing to hide his feelings. Causing Yuuri to run off screaming thanks to Victor’s erection in his face was not a way he wanted to end the night.

Yuuri’s hands squeezed his hips and gave a small tug to encourage the movement and without trying to dwell on it for too long Victor brought himself back. “A little further and then stand.”

Victor cautiously scooted back a little more, made sure his knees were tight and stood. Yuuri’s hands followed the curve of his ass to keep a hold on him. “Blyat”, a curse slipped past his lips as Yuuri’s hands pushed, grabbing a handful of the bottoms of his cheeks. Though he couldn’t be sure if it was because of the awkwardness of learning to climb a pole or where Yuuri decided to spot him.

“You got this, come on one more full climb.” The words of encouragement and wanting to impress Yuuri were the only things that could get Victor to move further out of his reach. Slowly, Victor repeated the climb, leaving the warmth and pressure of Yuuri’s hands behind. As Victor stood once more Yuuri called up for one last addition. “Okay, now bring both of your legs out in front of you and cross your ankles to hold yourself with your upper thighs.”

“I-what?!” Victor looked down at a far too innocently smiling Yuuri. That was asking a lot for someone who was just noticing exactly how far up the pole he was.

Yuuri cocked his head to the side, “Just don’t let go with your hands and get the pole right on that fleshy area.” Victor kissed his teeth, trying not to think about another object he’d much rather grab between his thighs. He brought his legs out and quickly crossed his ankles, the dancer in him immediately pointing his toes. “Perfect! Now take one hand off and lean back.”

“I thought you told me to keep holding!” Victor gasped, a little afraid to be this high up and suddenly being told to let go. He was gaining far more respect for what Yuuri did now and a new understanding of his comfort zones.

“I’m right here. You won’t fall, just squeeze your thighs with everything you’ve got.” Yuuri’s voice was steady and reassuring. Victor knew he had more than enough strength to do what Yuuri was instructing without accidentally dropping to the stage, the nerves were more from wanting to impress his instructor. Plus there were always first-time jitters when it came to something so new, Victor wasn’t void of that just because of how many other things he’d accomplished in his life.

He inhaled, grabbed the pole as tight as he could with one hand and let go with the other, cautiously reaching it above his head and stretching himself backward. Everything seemed to go still for the moment as he held the pose, exhaling in rapid, excited breaths for what felt like minutes before he allowed his hand and feet to return to the pole.

Only when he was safely wrapped around it again did he let the adrenaline rush blossom, a huge grin taking over as he looked down at Yuuri who’d been cheering the entire time from below, “You did it!”

“I did it! Holy shit!” Victor juggled between wanting to slide down the pole and hug Yuuri in celebration of his achievement and showing this off to more people. He called down to Yuuri, “Can you get my phone and take a picture? I’ll try it again!”

“Of course,” Yuuri smiled up. “Just stay there, don’t move.”

Victor nodded and sat tight, literally, until Yuuri found a good spot a few feet back from the pole. He struck the pose again, giving a few cheesy grins and winks to the camera before curling back in and Yuuri spotting him on his decent. “That was so awesome!” His phone was handed back to him. “A little scary at first, but wow. I can’t believe how easy you make stuff like that look.”

Shrugging, Yuuri smiled softly while pushing his glasses up his nose, “Just years of practice. I got addicted after my first class, snowballed from there.”

“Ah,” Victor nodded at the return of Yuuri’s shy side, unable to wipe the grin off his own face. “I can understand. The thrill of being able to execute new moves is a powerful driving force to want to learn more.” He stopped himself before he could start rambling again. It had been hard to hold himself back last night too, though the way their dance had been going at one point was enough to render him speechless. Something about Yuuri just made him lose control of his brain to mouth filter when his body wasn’t in action. “Though if I had you as an instructor, that would be enough.”

And there it went. Along with any normal coloring on Yuuri’s stunned face, the poor man being blindsided by Victor’s lack of self-control. While trying to stutter out a response Victor jumped to change the subject, to ease the situation the only way he knew how. “Do you mind if I post one of the shots to Instagram when I get home?” He smiled brightly, hoping he hadn’t just ruined the mood. Embarrassed Yuuri was just a cute and Eros Yuuri and while Victor would kill for another round of dirty dancing, and more, he remained firm on his stance of not wanting to push him too far too quickly.

Besides, it was getting late now and he still had an hour drive home to walk Makkachin and shower. And the star of the video really needed his rest for tomorrow. His better judgment was going to get the best of him when all he kept thinking about was grabbing Yuuri and kissing him.

“Not at all,” Yuuri swallowed hard, eyes wandering Victor before flitting back to meet his with a smile.

In the end, this had been worth it. Victor wasn’t about to be picky with the time he got with Yuuri. Whether it was work related, getting flirty while dancing or just having fun like tonight, it was moments Victor wouldn’t trade for the world. Being with Yuuri made him feel alive in ways he didn’t know he could be. And while his body was certainly screaming out for more contact his heart and soul were content when they finally parted that night.

\----

It was considerably late by the time Victor was curled up in bed with Makkachin. She seemed as tired as he did, for whatever reason that might be. His spoiled fur baby got to sleep all day in between his trusted dog walker stopping by. Victor ran a hand through the curly fleece on her back as she snorted in approval, the other bringing up his Instagram application.

The photo of him at the top of the pole, body stretched out in a graceful arch, had been posted while he was walking Makkachin. Kissy face won out, for obvious reasons. It had been all he thought of doing with Yuuri on the drive home. Those lips were a little dangerous to imagine while going eighty, but they kept him awake.

Out of habit he tapped on the profile icon and went directly to the photo, usually ignoring the like count though this one was particularly high for a late night post, teetering on the edge of six-hundred-thousand already. Not like high numbers were rare for him because of what he did but in the matter of an hour?

Most of the comments were along the same lines; fans being astonished he was taking up pole dancing and speculation of what Mila’s new video was going to be like. Then there were the ones from personal friends:

_Christophe-gc: Practice round ma chérie, will the next one be real? :winking kissy face:_

_Yuri-plisetsky: Don’t break your neck old man, you owe me studio time!_

_Georgie-Pop: No fair! I want him to teach me pole too!_

Nested under that was a reply from Chris; _Your payment is no good here._ Victor rolled his eyes.

A notification dropped down from the top of his screen just then and Victor’s heart skipped a beat at the username: Katsuki-poledance. It wasn’t a comment either but a direct message. Victor thumbed over to it as quickly as he could.

_Katsuki-poledance: ‘Private lesson with the world's greatest pole dancer’? :grinning face with sweat:_

_v-nikiforov: I know what I wrote :winking face: I had a lot of fun tonight, thank you._

_Katsuki-poledance: Me too. :grin:_

The ellipsis at the bottom of the chat indicated Yuuri typing, so Victor waited in anticipation, getting a quick ruffle of Makkachin’s fur in as she stretched out to kick his side. Her way of saying ‘put the phone down and go to sleep’.

_Katsuki-poledance: I hope I didn’t keep you too late._

_v-nikiforov: Makkachin was a bit over excited to finally have me home, but she’s already passed out._

He scooted further down next her and snapped a dimly lit selfie with his snoozing pup, making sure to subtly advertise his shirtlessness.

_Katsuki-poledance: Awww, what a cutie!_

_v-nikiforov: Worth it to miss out on a little sleep. Haha, me or her? :winking face:_

Subtlety out the window.

_Katsuki-poledance: Hmmm, her. :winking tongue out:_

_v-nikiforov: My pride is wounded, but I must agree, she is a cutie._

Victor laughed, getting a small grunt of annoyance from his other half.

_Katsuki-poledance: I promise to make up for it tomorrow, er, later today. Get some sleep okay?_

How was he supposed to sleep now with vague promises of tomorrow? Victor clutched his phone, the sputtering part of his brain that needed sleep badly toyed with the thought of saying something risky. Something off the pages of his books to give Yuuri a reason to stay up, to talk to him more, to see where this sudden chain of DMs could go. He could only hold himself back from telling Yuuri how he felt for so long, especially when his crush was getting bolder and bolder each day. But his body was succumbing to the need for sleep, as happy as he was to let Yuuri get one more flirty pass in for the evening his eyelids weighed a ton.

_v-nikiforov: Deal. You too, sweet dreams. :kissing face:_

The emoji was his compromise for all the other things he wished to say and do.

_Katsuki-poledance: Sweet dreams. :kissing face:_

The reply emoji was a horribly welcomed tease. _”Soon. Please.”_ Victor hoped.

He barely got his phone plugged into the charger and nightlight switched off before dropping back onto his pillow and slipping off to sleep. Sweet dreams indeed. They were filled with suggestive makeouts, rolling around together in his Californian king, hands and lips exploring. Frustratingly enough his damn black briefs were still on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * Nous pouvons parler en Français? = We can speak in French?
> 
> Again, thank you so much Mary for the cutest selfie of Vitya and Makka! [Please check out her tumblr post to see the unedited version of this, it's so precious!](https://artofmarylarson.tumblr.com/post/176488884405/commission-for-the-wonderful-viktorbunny-for-her)
> 
> Reposting at the end so if you didn't click it because of spoilers before now you can. Dyeingdoll on Tumblr gifted me this [amazing fanart from one of the last scenes](https://dyeingdoll.tumblr.com/post/176531479792/this-fic-is-sofly-killing-me-i-stg-go-and-drown) as well!
> 
> As always a HUGE thank you to everyone for reading. Any kudos, comments or messages on [Tumblr](https://viktorbunny.tumblr.com/) or over on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/ViktorBunny) are always deeply appreciated.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'An amuse-bouche of things to come, should he truly want what Yuuri was serving.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY! I give you all a terribly late chapter 11.
> 
> As some who follow me on twitter know the first floor of my condo flooded 2 months ago. Which meant all of my hardwood floors, parts of my walls and my half bathroom (where the flood started thanks to a faulty water hose) all needed to get torn up and replaced. Long story short construction is still on going- and with the addition of "f**k it might as well finally re-do the guest bathroom) it's going to be a hot minute still. THAT alone has kept me from writing as often as I'd like. Couple it with what was an already booked and paid for two week vacation in Europe- this is why I'm so far behind! I've deeply appreciated all the well wishes for a speedy condo recovery though. You've all been so supportive and amazing and PATIENT. THANK YOU!
> 
> I hope that moving forward I won't take as long in between chapters, but as you know, life happens. 
> 
> Now on to the fic! No beta, again, so be kind for any silly mistakes. 
> 
>  

There was this weird buzzing in Yuuri’s system that morning when he woke up. Muffling the noise of the world around him. Numbing his sense to the point where he felt like he was floating when he moved. Making the LA traffic, dancers and crew at the studio seem altogether slow and lightning fast. Though he couldn’t bother to pay his surroundings any mind at the moment he remained vaguely aware that other things existed in his universe.

He spilled the coffee, creamer, and sugar at catering because what even was hand-eye coordination? And while he never ate much for breakfast to begin with a single banana was oddly filling. This strange and unfamiliar fog felt relaxing somehow too. Normally he would have been berating himself for making a mess and holding up the breakfast station but not now.

The only thing that seemed to punch through it and reach him was the mention of Victor’s name as he sat staring off into space while sipping coffee. Suddenly, without warning, Yuuri was jerked back to reality, giving him the biggest whiplash of his life as everything from last night came flooding back in high definition.

Somehow the fact that he’d casually slid into Victor’s direct messages on Instagram, and gotten a reply back immediately, and gotten a selfie of him and Makkachin in bed hadn’t fully registered.

Until now.

He’d done that. Yuuri had actually done that and the Earth hadn’t opened up to swallow him whole. Heat rose to his cheeks as he attempted to steady his quickening breath, eyes focused on the cup in his hands.

His hands. The ghosted feeling of spotting Victor as he learned to climb the pole made his fingers twitch. Yuuri moaned in frustration as he let his head down to rest on a forearm. He’d done that too. The problem with all of it was that he would do it again in a heartbeat, without any hesitation. How the hell he’d managed to walk away last night without doing or saying anything worse was a mystery.

Now all the times he’d been physically close with Victor were crowding his mind, teasing him, pushing him to a boiling point. It would be incredibly unprofessional of him to grab Victor during working hours and just kiss him, wouldn’t it?

Never mind being unprofessional. Would Yuuri even have the guts to do something like that _outside_ of work? He couldn’t help that voice in the back of his mind that still kept giving him ‘what if’ scenarios to deter him from making a final approach. But his desire for Victor was shushing that nagging more and more each day.

Yuuri bit back his lip and inhaled as deeply as he could before hauling himself to his feet. He topped off his coffee, made a second cup and stopped by his designated green room to make sure they didn’t need him yet. They didn’t. The only thing on his schedule today was the catwalk scene after lunch. Besides that, they were set to film all of Mila’s solo scenes and one last smaller group scene that Yuuri was not a part of. Technically he didn’t need to be at the soundstage this early, but who was he kidding. The thought of passing up the chance to see more of Victor in person didn’t exist. He’d forego a full nights sleep for this.

With his free time on set confirmed Yuuri made his way out to the stage Mila was scheduled to be on. During the walk, he did his best to mentally prepare for whatever might come. In his heart, though, he knew any reminders to keep a level head would go out the window the moment he was near Victor. Like all those the times he’d allowed himself to get comfortable and probably crossed a line. Stealing the lead in dances, getting him out-of-diet-plan cookies, being sexual while dancing, sliding into the man’s messages on social media at some ungodly hour of the night.

Now that Yuuri thought about it, were all of the drinks he’d been bringing Victor lately crossing the line? None of his other dancers went out of their way to do anything like this. Was Yuuri unknowingly making himself look like a brown-noser? Or putting a crew member out of a job?

The thought spiraled just enough to get his heart racing. By the time it hit the point where he wanted to turn around and hide in the green room there was literally no option to.

“Yuuri!” Victor sing-songed while waving across the soundstage. He was standing with Mila, Georgi, Yakov, and a few others. They were already hard at work getting ready to start filming.

Mila was getting a quick touch up on her lipstick and an additional swipe of highlighter on her cheeks. Her current look was different from both the group dances and her pole stage outfit. A silver paneled corset with matching wings coming off of a black bra and a dramatic belt-looking piece set right over her black bottoms. Victor and Georgi were hair and makeup ready but still in their sweats and t-shirts for the moment. He swore Victor could wear anything and look gorgeous, it wasn’t fair.

Yuuri swallowed hard as he nodded in their direction, legs moving towards the group on their own. “I-I hope I’m not interrupting,” Yuuri kept his voice low as he made the final approach.

“Not at all.” Victor smiled as Yuuri cautiously and wordlessly offered him the second cup of coffee. “Oh my gosh, I needed this. Thank you!” He took it gently with both hands. The brush of his fingers over Yuuri’s hands was all too slow and intentional, causing a small tremor to twitch through his own as Victor relieved him of the hot cup. “Last day of filming always leaves me feeling like I need to be chugging coffee to make it through.”

“You’re getting enough sleep, right?” Yuuri winced as he heard himself talk, who the hell asks things like this to their crush, let alone their idol?

He felt painfully awkward as the words hung there while Victor took a long sip, eyes darting up from the drink. “Mmm,” Victor nodded as he swallowed. “Could always be better, but it’s been good this shoot.” Blood rushed to Yuuri’s cheeks as Victor gave him a wink. “I’m a bit sad for the catwalk set today.”

Yuuri cocked his head to the side, was something changing? Did they need to cut dancers? “How so?”

“Because it’s our last set together!” Victor pouted animatedly, bottom lip pushed out, eyebrows knitted. If Yuuri hadn’t been in the process of trying to climb back out of the small anxiety hole he’d dug himself two minutes ago he’d probably have started laughing. A nervous laugh for sure, but it probably would have been better than the cautiously raised eyebrow, confused look he was shooting Victor now. “Yuuri, you’ve been so amazing to have on set and to dance with. I’m going to miss it all. I’m going to miss _you_.”

The breakneck speed with which Yuuri’s mind hauled itself out of its dimly lit corner and into the light of day was, well, mind-blowing. Victor would _miss him?_ He tried and failed a few times at a reply. His tongue too crowded with rapid-fire thoughts trying to come out as words. This was not something he could process, not this early in the morning, on this little coffee, after just freaking himself out over the possibility of being an annoying kiss-ass. Everything from laughing it off and saying _’It’s still an entire set together, it’s fine!’_ to pulling him in and kissing that pouting lip teetered dangerously close to actually happening.

In the end, he managed a simple “I’m going to miss it all too.” Though his frown a bit less exaggerated than Victor’s. He really was going to miss this, Victor especially. Yuuri licked his lips as he remembered his end goal for this job. Yuuri pushed his glasses up on his nose and cleared his throat, “I’m going to miss you.”

It was hard to even try to make eye contact with Victor as the words left him and he busied his hands with the flap on the lid of his coffee. As shocked as he was that he’d said those words out loud it was also kind of relieving. Then he suddenly found himself being wrapped into a hug, Victor’s arms coming around his back, being careful not to spill either of their coffees.

Yuuri felt his entire body start to blush at the contact, which lingered far longer than it should have for a normal hug. Victor hummed as he gave a little squeeze around Yuuri, the vibrations in his throat deep and soothing. The embrace was warm and firm but not uncomfortable in the least. In fact, his shoulders he didn’t even realize were tensed before began to ease. God, if he died now Yuuri would be going out the happiest man on the planet. The only thing worrying the back of his mind was Victor noticing how fast his heart was racing. Even that seemed to clear as he breathed in the scent of a woody-citrus cologne. _”Fucking end me now, how is this going to get better?”_

Just as the thought crossed his mind Victor angled his face in towards Yuuri’s, hot breath tickling the shell of his ear. “Let’s both make today count then.”

Victor pulled back a little, giving Yuuri a soft smile. All he wanted to do was close the distance again and kiss him. But that damn voice in the back of his head remained firm that it was a line he shouldn’t be crossing, not now, no matter the signs. He returned the smile, “Mmm, yeah.” Yuuri needed to be professional on set, in front of Yakov, his dancers and the rest of the production crew. For Victor’s sake.

They separated as any two people would after a brief embrace. Of course though, for Yuuri, his legs were left shaking from the adrenaline rush and he was screaming for joy on the inside. He really hoped his blush wasn’t noticeable in the dim lighting, because he could feel the heat radiating off his face.

“Victor,” Georgi slapped a hand over his friend's shoulder, surprising Victor momentarily as he whipped around. “We’re about to start.” He grinned across to Yuuri, “Welcome to stay if you want?”

As much as he wanted to run back to the green room and calm himself, maybe get the feeling back in his extremities, Victor was smiling impossibly too wide and pleading-like for Yuuri to say no. He nodded, “Sure, I’d like that.” Yuuri hadn’t had much of a chance to just watch the entire process, and he had time to kill before he needed to be in hair and makeup so this would be a fun and unique excuse to stay near Victor a while longer.

Besides, Victor was more than right. He had to make today count. This was his last chance to soak up as much Victor time as he could. And as rapidly as his heart was beating, as loud as he wanted to scream in elation, as much as he wanted to peacock even as he followed Victor and Georgi to the monitors near Yakov, Yuuri also felt an enormous weight off his shoulders.

Saying something as simple as _’I’ll miss you’_ had made him light on his feet. The hug from Victor and the thought that he too wanted today to be a day for them to remember, gave him so much confidence and hope. Nothing was going to stop him now, not even himself.

\----

What a strange way to spend the rest of the morning, being right next to Victor in the thick of production. He could now see why Yakov was always so high strung when watching the monitors. While shots looked insanely amazing to Yuuri there were tiny things both Yakov and Victor caught or better suggestions for another camera pan, a tweak of the lighting or fans that made what Yuuri once thought was perfect look like garbage after the next take. It was kind of magical and he was quickly learning what they looked for, making him wish he had a do-over on his pole routine. Though after the hours they spent filing him with no re-takes the next day he left it in their capable hands that they had the perfect shots.

Victor did a lot more than Yuuri thought. He wasn’t just this ridiculously talented and gorgeous choreographer, he had his hands deeper into production than just casting and managing dancers. And though it was clear he was still working under and learning from Yakov it was impressive to see what he was already capable of.

All that stress Victor had been under before the shoot, the stress Yuuri saw on him even while filming, made sense now. Dancers couldn’t dance forever, not at the level and with the gusto Victor was. Yuuri knew that too well. One day he’d be unable to compete and work at the same rate and would have to stick to teaching. Reminders like that made him actually thankful for his day job. He wouldn’t be left hurting. Though that was far enough in the future he understood why Victor was working twice as hard now, while he was still physically able to, to secure a spot in the world of production.

Again, it was a new aspect of Victor that made him all the more real to Yuuri. Just like the hidden clumsy side had made him all the more endearing. This level of work ethic and drive made him more multifaceted and layered. Yuuri was no longer just seeing the past and present Victor, he was getting a glimpse at future Victor. And it was hard to not let his fanboy side get thrilled about that. This was more than most people ever got of him, even those dancers on his already established team.

That wasn’t all Yuuri got though. As time ticked on for them light shoulder brushes turned into lingering presses. Lingering presses turned into hip or almost full side body contact. That contact gave way to leaning in closer to talk while Otabek blared music during takes. And while the talk was light and playful at first, each time Victor pressed himself in closer to answer one of Yuuri’s questions or just chat it got flirtier and flirtier.

“I think this is the most risque I’ve seen Mila be in any of her videos,” Yuuri commented during one of the long takes. Mila had certainly been pushing the envelope the last few years when it came to sexuality in her work. The group dances were tiptoeing along the edge of actual orgies at times, and some of these solo shots were set up to show her reminiscing about the seductive pole dancer. Victor had previously explained how they were going to splice in a lot of the up-close shots they got of Yuuri. There was a lot of suggestive floor work and a whole lot of touching to drive the message home.

“She’s a woman who knows what she wants and takes it.” Victor smiled at his starlet as she twisted through the downcast lighting. “I try to take cues from her, but she’s on another level sometimes.”

Yuuri leaned in to reply, trying to keep his shoulder or hip from pressing into Victor’s too much. “Hmm? What then? You don’t know what you want?” He almost couldn’t believe he was asking something so personal and half hoped the loud music swallowed his voice.

As Yuuri pulled back Victor quickly recovered the distance, tilting his head to the side and pressing in close to his ear, “I know what I want,” he replied matter-of-factly.

Yuuri tried to follow through like they were dancing, not wanting to miss a beat that gave him an opportunity to hopefully spell out his intentions. He made sure to try to get as close to Victor’s ear as he could, “Then why not take it?”

There was no time for Yuuri to freak out, or even pull back completely because Victor was right there with an amused hum the moment Yuuri turned his head, “Is that a challenge?”

He kissed his teeth, swallowing his heart back down and pausing for far too long before he could find it in him to make the next move. Yuuri gave a small nod as he looked over at Victor, prepped to say “yes” but then the director called cut. All he could meek out in the deafening silence of the soundstage was “Mmmn.”

Despite the small waves of embarrassment that ebbed and flowed as he tried flirting it didn’t deter him from spending the entire morning and lunch with Victor. When they had to part for Yuuri to head back for hair and makeup he was fully prepared to spend the next chunk of time internally screaming to try to let off some steam.

After a little while though, a serene silence fell over him and the nearly empty room. Any other dancers needed for today were either done getting ready and at lunch still or cueing up for the next set somewhere else. Once his hair had been set, concealer and contouring in place, he felt centered enough to breathe normally again.

Around the time when the makeup artist was halfway through his smokey eye look, the hair stylist spoke up, nonchalantly asking, “Ah, Mr. Nikiforov. Need anything?” The mention of Victor’s name made his heart pitter patter. A much better reaction than this morning, for sure.

“Just wanted to give some info to Yuuri, won’t keep him long.”

Yuuri listened as Victor’s PVC boots gave that typical new-shoe squeak as he walked into the room. His makeup artist asked for one more moment to finish some blending and then let Yuuri blink open his eyes. Victor was literally glowing as he stood next to Yuuri, the vanity lighting playing off the highlighter on his cheeks. And his new outfit for the next set was like woven gold plated shoulder and neck armor. The only thing brighter in the room was the warm smile Victor was giving him, “Tonight, AV Nightclub after we wrap. Want to come out and celebrate with us? It’s a tradition after each big shoot. We dance and pop a few bottles. Just the core group. I’d love it if you came out and I’m sure the others would too.”

Wow.

Yuuri honestly hadn’t seen something like this coming. Maybe it was part of Victor’s plan to make today count and take what he wanted? As if Yuuri could say no to any of that, especially if Yuuri was what he wanted to take. “That sounds fun, yeah I’d love to go.” It came out cool and collected but Yuuri’s inner peace had been shattered by that shrill internal screaming again.

“Great!” Victor beamed. “I’ll text you the info, we’re all leaving time to shower and change beforehand so no rush after our last set.”

Yuuri nodded, he would definitely need to run back to the hotel for his good jeans. “Yeah, that sounds perfect.”

Victor, all smiles still, sheepishly dipped into a small bow as he gave his leave, “I’ll let you all get back to work then,” he eyed the stylists. “See you out there Yuuri.” He waved the room off as he exited and once he was gone Yuuri slowly let out the breath he’d unknowingly been holding.

This certainly put some gears into motion. Having time with Victor outside of work, away from a professional setting where he could still dance was exactly what he needed. And Yuuri was going to take full advantage of the opportunity.

As the makeup artist got back to work Yuuri excitedly tried to plan through what he could do or even say to make sure Victor knew how he felt. He knew he wasn’t good with his words sometimes but he’d made progress the times he did speak his mind. And talking with Victor had become much easier since that first day. Worst case he had his hips. Just getting them to dance together later might be… well… still embarrassing.

Yuuri took a deep breath and exhaled. Tonight at the club would probably be his very last chance. Even if he had to pound shots to scrape up the courage to physically pull Victor onto that dance floor he was going to do it. Victor had seemed to enjoy the few times they’d paired up already, so who was to say _he_ wouldn’t be the one dragging Yuuri through the crowd to the floor?

“Look up,” the makeup artists asked, tipping Yuuri’s chin up just the slightest.

He bit his lip back as he concentrated on the same ceiling tile he always did. No matter who was the catalyst tonight he had it in his control to do something on set this afternoon to try to whet Victor’s appetite. An amuse-bouche of things to come, should he truly want what Yuuri was serving.

\----

Part of him had wanted to wait in the green room until the moment he was needed because he wanted the time to make sure he was ready mentally. But he also knew that after everything else that’d happened today staying away from Victor wasn’t an option. Emil and his assistant helped get him dressed for the last time. The outfit was simple; a neck piece and latex briefs. The molded, high-backed, leather collar was curved to his neck and draped in sections across his chest. Off the back, there were intricately detailed leather feathers that were layered until just under his shoulder blades. Even with the same black latex briefs knew he’d have those blue eyes on his ass again, he was going to make sure of it.

Finally dressed, boots laced and armed with lube for his shine up, Emil handed him a robe and Yuuri made his way out. He wanted to see the last few takes of the small group dancers done up in their shiny armor-like outfits. If it had looked cool during dress rehearsal it was going to be really amazing with everyone in their full looks.

Yuuri patiently hung back to watch Victor and the others work, grabbing a seat near Otabek and Yuri at their offer. They were quiet today, well, Otabek was always quiet. And Yuri had been in a much calmer mood the few times Yuuri saw him around set lately.

It was nice to have a secluded area to sit, where no one was being overly talkative, while he took everything in. The space from Victor and his very extroverted dancers gave Yuuri time to finish psyching himself up. Usually, when allowed time to think about the next move, especially for something he considered so important, he ended down a rabbit hole of anxiousness.

This time was different. All the smiles, all the passing glances and flirting, the far too suggestive presses of bodies those times when they’d danced together. Not to mention some not-so-subtle reactions below the belt. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that for once in his life he was absolutely sure of something. That Victor’s interest in him wasn’t imaginary, it was real. Just thinking it brought a small, secret smile to his face as he shook his head. How crazy yet thrilling it sounded.

He shared a quick wave and grin with Victor as they paused to adjust part of Mila’s bodice and hair. Yakov kept Victor busy with footage review, like always, whenever a moment for it popped up. Yuuri stayed put during this set, making sure to casually look up from his phone to catch Victor’s glances when he could. Each one setting butterflies free in his stomach.

By the time he had to step to the side to stretch and warm up and the others were changed into matching leather collars and ready to film the very last scene of the video, the electricity running through him had taken a pleasant turn. All the hopeful planning of when he should make a move and the playful ideas of how that move could evolve had settled at the base of his spine in the form of a gentle heat.

Nothing to cause him any worry or embarrassment. The warmth only coming in new waves with any lingering gazes that were never one-sided. Those fixed looks made the removal of his robe purposefully slow while angling his backside towards the one person he knew was watching. The arch in his spine aimed to tease as he slid a lube-slicked hand over his latex. Yuuri didn’t mean to check over his shoulder to see if Victor was still frozen in place where he stood but he did. And his peripheral view of Victor’s unbroken, heavy-lidded stare confirmed a job well done.

When they called for positions he practically strutted passed Victor, unable to keep himself from flashing quite the cheeky smile. Never before in his life had he ever thought he could be as bold as this. Whether it was that warm feeling in his gut or the surge of energy brought on by the adrenaline he felt like a man possessed.

As he, Victor, Mila, Chris, and Georgi settled into their ‘flying V’ position they paused for the styling teams to give them one last go over. “Last scene,” Georgi sighed. “Always brings back the feeling of our first wrap, doesn’t it?” He mused to the group. “That renewed excitement of an approaching finish line. How does it feel for you, Yuuri?” The question punctuated with a gentle poke on his shoulder.

“Mmm,” Yuuri kissed his teeth, letting the stylist shine his collar. He knew damn well how it was making him feel about a certain dancer standing a foot behind him, but he couldn’t say that in front of everyone. “Same. I feel excited.” And he would leave it at that, interpret it as they may.

“I, for one, can’t wait to pop a bottle and wiggle my ass to a different song after this.” Mila chimed in, shooting them all a smile over her shoulder. “Joining us, Yuuri?”

He nodded, “Victor invited me earlier.” Yuuri’s lips curled up wickedly as he bowed his head a little, it took everything he had to not turn and look at Victor as he spoke. “Also looking forward to wiggling my ass, though not necessarily after this.”

Mila whipped around, mouth snapping open with a silent gasp as her line of sight gave her away. She pulled it from Victor and directed it to Yuuri. Her shocked yet elated look was enough to get him blushing, He couldn’t believe he just said that, but now with the other’s joining in he could feel the pink truly blossoming. “Yuuri!” Mila devolved into a small fit of giggles, “Last night and you’re finally easing up around us I see.” She gave him a playful wink. “Honestly, I can’t wait to see you let loose with some club dancing later. It’ll be good for all of us to release this week's stress.”

She was met with consensus from them as the styling team finished their work and started moving off screen. Production called for ready on the set, their cue to quiet down and get ready for the count. As much as Yuuri told himself to let the conversation drop before they started rolling, Victor’s presence was just too close, too heavy and hot. If there was anything he wanted to wiggle his ass to it was the man behind him taking far too a deep breath to be considered healthy. Yuuri steeled himself and casually looked back at Victor. Then, with as innocent a voice he could fake he asked, “The back of my dance belt isn’t showing, is it?” He curved his back and ran his fingers across the top of the latex briefs. “These kept slipping yesterday, I think it’s all the lube.”

“N-no. They’re fine.” Victor’s voice broke as his eyes widened, making Yuuri smile a little.

“Good.” He caught the thin material between his thumbs and pointer fingers and snapped it with a light tug. “Keep an eye on it for me? Please?” The request should be an easy one for Victor to follow, all things considered.

There was a choked moan of agreement as the producer called for quiet on the set. Yuuri turned and took their first position as they began rolling. Victor let out a much louder than he’d probably meant shaky breath and whimper. At this point, Yuuri would have to be willfully ignoring every sign from Victor to think he didn’t have a chance. Which made wiping the smile from his face more than difficult. He was going to channel this high and aim it right in Victor’s direction.

The music started and the four dancers shifted their weight to their outer legs, hands up to their faces with the beat of the music. They palmed down the sides of their chests before taking a few steps forward, keeping the required distance from Mila and each other as her own movements drifted between the same as theirs and ones with an added flourish.

Yuuri’s body curved, following the motions of his hands snaking down his sides until they stopped on his hips. He popped them to one side and finished with a half rotation towards the back. It didn’t matter to him that everyone else on the soundstage was watching, that this was being filmed for millions of others to see or that this scene was supposed to show him and the others fiending for more of Mila. Because Yuuri was dancing for one person, and one person only.

All that mattered was the firmer than ever push to Yuuri’s shoulder, a move that before today had been reserved and cautious– just enough to get the choreography to look the way it needed to– was now demanding. He bent forward at the waist as he copied a less forceful version of the motion to Mila, letting his spine sink into a deeper than necessary arch.

Victor dragged a heavy hand Yuuri’s side, fingers firmly trying to keep their hold, getting his nails in right before their count to pull back up and take a few more catwalk-like steps with Mila. Neither of them seemed to want to pussy-foot around their feelings any longer. And knowing this was the last chance, knowing how Victor was responding, made Yuuri put everything he had into it.

He clicked the heels of his boots together with the flick of Mila’s elevated wrist and dropped into a squat as she commandingly swung her arm downward. With a roll of their necks and a bite of his lip, Yuuri pulled opened his knees with more confidence than he’d done on any run through before. His hands pulling up his inner thighs, trying desperately to mimic how Victor’s felt down his back.

Yuuri pushed onward to the next few rapid movements, getting a hand to the floor behind himself, dropping his knees to the light up stage floor and thrusting his hips up as his upper body went back into a low bend. It was a shame that he wouldn’t be able to see Victor’s face as they both threw their heads back, but what a view of his spread thighs, of his hand squeezing low on his dancers' belt. The sight made Yuuri’s hold on his own double as he quickly committed it to memory before rolling back up.

Now it was his turn to give Victor another saucy view. The four of them slid their feet out, across the stage. Chris’s boot knocking with Yuuri’s and Georgi’s with Victor’s as they always did. And while keeping their knees in place jutted their asses up into the air as their upper bodies went down. Yuuri pushed his arms out in front of himself, forcing his body forward along the smooth surface until he was practically flat, sans his hopefully tempting looking tush raised in anticipation for a bass drop.

What he would give to have Victor behind him in a different way right now. The faint feeling of the other man’s body heat between Yuuri’s thighs when in such a compromising and suggestive position was enough to pull a small whine from him as their hips dropped to the beat. Thank god for the volume of the music.

As Mila did her thing above them they paused, waiting for the count when they exaggerated a hip roll to match one of her own and then had to push up onto all fours to crawl after her. This was only the beginning of the routine and Yuuri could already feel himself heating.

Every move Victor had choreographed had a goal of turning Mila’s fans on. And with each thrust, sway and roll of his hips Yuuri gave it his all to try to turn the tables. If he could turn Victor on, he’d certainly succeed in doing the same with the audience.

Professionalism remained key though. As much as Yuuri wished for the guts to pull Victor offset, or run off for a quick solo bathroom break, he had to remain composed. They had a few hours left of this anyway. One at the very least because he knew better now than to think even a handful of takes meant they had it right. The typical pauses to review takes, calling cut to fix styling and actual bathroom breaks were ever present. And if Yuuri were going to be honest, keeping up a high level of seduction for so long did get tiring. He actually found himself thankful for the breaks after a while.

Besides, it was these breathers that allowed him to stay on track. Each one came with a blushing Victor who looked more than distracted when asked for thoughts on takes. That heavier than usual look Victor gave the monitors, the way his Adam’s apple would bob as he swallowed hard, the intense focus he’d have to be snapped out of every now and then, and the time it took him to have some water before the next round. All of them fueled Yuuri.

Tonight's festivities couldn’t come fast enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How Victor is not limping off set right now is a mystery. (´ε｀*)
> 
> As always, thank you all so much for reading and any kudos and comments. Should you want to chat, scream at me, scream with me, fan over YOI in general etc etc I can be found on [Tumblr](https://viktorbunny.tumblr.com/) and over on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/ViktorBunny).

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!
> 
> Any kudos, comments, subscriptions and bookmarks are always appreciated.
> 
> I also love getting notes and tweets, so please come chat with me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/viktorbunny) and [Tumblr](https://viktorbunny.tumblr.com/).


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